And Foes Bear Arms
by Stormfire76
Summary: "Surrender... I'll bring you back to New Rome for trial. It won't be fair. You'll be painfully executed. But it may be enough to stop further violence." - Reyna, pg. 251, MoA. Everyone thought it was too late for peace. After all, the Romans had reached Camp Half-Blood already. But what if Reyna's offer still stood? And what if Leo decided to take it?
1. Part I

**So this story has three purposes. One, to be read, obviously. I'm a new fanfiction author, so it'd be nice to get reviews and such so I don't feel like I'm posting to myself. (Yes, that was me, subtly asking for reviews. :P)**

**Two, I wanted to figure out a way for Romans and Greeks to become allies without starting a civil war first. **

**And three, this is my way of (hopefully) showing how Leyna could happen. XD Personally, I think that Jeyna isn't going to happen and shouldn't anyway. Jason and Piper are happy, and Jason even said in MoA that he never thought of Reyna that way, and after showing up at Camp Jupiter like "Hey, Reyna! I have a girlfriend! You don't mind, right?" I think she deserves better. And by better, I mean Leo. :P So after he fired the ballistae and Leyna seemed hopeless, I decided that instead of yelling at an imaginary Rick Riordan (which I was very tempted to do...) I would figure out a way that Reyna could forgive Leo for that, and he could live, and Leyna could happen. **

**This was the result... And like I said, I'm a new fanfiction author, so the formatting might be wonky. (heheh, wonky)**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, I wouldn't be making up an imaginary me and yelling at him. Most likely.**

* * *

**Leo**

They were nearly halfway to Greece when Nyssa's face appeared in the dining room.

Hazel had only seen an Iris-message once before, and she had sent it along with Percy. So when she was on the receiving end of one, she toppled backwards out of her chair and hit her head on the wall. Frank had never even seen _one_ IM, so he naturally responded by turning into a chameleon and doing his best to blend in with the tablecloth.

For his part, Leo jumped up and ran over to his older sister. "Nyssa!" he exclaimed. "Why have you decided to appear on my wall this fine morning? Did Harley break something again?" He smiled, but Leo was actually quite worried. Nyssa was smart and tough enough that she wouldn't contact him unless it was something really important. And that expression on her face – almost like she was _nervous_ – was starting to scare Leo.

Nyssa bit her lip and looked around. "Where's Annabeth? And Percy? Did you guys find him? And Jason and Piper? Who's the chameleon and the girl on the floor?"

Leo decided to start with the easiest news first. "Hazel and Frank – Frank's the chameleon, by the way – are Roman… Besides Jason, they're pretty much the _only_ Romans on our side right now. Jason and Piper are upstairs, along with Nico – we found him in Rome, by the way. They're on guard duty while we eat. I'll go get them."

He walked towards the door, but before he could leave, Nyssa broke in again. "And Annabeth and Percy? They need to be here too. Like, they _really_ need to be here."

Leo made a face and turned back towards the IM. "Percy and Annabeth are… um, _unavailable_."

Nyssa wouldn't take that for an answer. "_Where are they_, Valdez?"

He sighed. "They're… Well, they're in Tartarus."

"_What?_"

"Yeah. They fell through a hole in the ground because this giant spider-lady was pulling on Annabeth's leg and… Anyway, it's a long story, but the short version is that we're on our way to Greece to close the Doors of Death topside, and Annabeth and Percy are going to the Doors too, except through Tartarus. We'll meet up in the House of Hades. But it sounds like you have some bad news," he added quickly, before Nyssa could interrupt, "so I'm just going to run and get the others now and then you can fill us in."

He dashed out the door and flew up the stairs, as if he could escape the bad news Nyssa was carrying.

"Guys," he gasped out when he reached the deck, "you've got to come down – like _right now_."

Coach Hedge was also on guard duty. He turned around excitedly when he heard Leo's voice. "Why? Is there some monster I can blow to pieces with the new portable ballista?"

Leo shook his head violently. "No monster, Coach. Just Nyssa. You should stay here anyways and man the non-portable ballistae. Yell for us if we get attacked again."

He left the satyr grumbling about guard duty and dragged Jason, Piper, and Nico downstairs.

* * *

Nyssa was still saying, "Tartarus?" over and over again when Leo got back. Hazel had fully recovered and was doing her best to calm a demigod, who she'd never met and was on the other side of the ocean, down. Frank was back in human form, running his fingers through his hair and examining the IM warily.

"Seriously, Nyssa," Leo said firmly, "you've got to relax. Percy and Annabeth will be fine, okay? And you _cannot_ tell anyone at camp about this. You guys have too much on your plates right now, what with the imminent Roman invasion and all."

Nyssa looked behind her nervously, like she was looking for something – or someone. "About that…" she said anxiously. "Well, the Romans are already in New York. A couple of them are at Thalia's tree right now, actually. They've come under a white flag, so we can't shoot them down, and they're calling for our blood." She made a face. "Morons… er, no offense, Frank and Hazel and Jason. Anyways, they're willing to make some sort of deal, but" – she paused and looked around at everyone in the room – "it's… it's impossible."

Leo watched Nyssa closely and noticed the way she wouldn't look directly at any of them. He furrowed his eyebrows and thought. Why was Nyssa so hesitant to tell everyone in the room about this Roman deal? Leo would do _anything_ to stop the civil war that was coming; all of the seven knew how important it was to unite the camps' forces, but Leo felt especially guilty because the rivalry had begun when his possessed self fired on Rome. Was that why Nyssa was so worried? Did she think the deal was too dangerous even to be considered, but she felt that everyone else wouldn't feel the same way? Leo made an executive decision and looked at his closest friends, all with similar expressions on their faces. "Hey, did you guys hear that?" Leo ran convincingly to the closed door. "It's Coach Hedge! He's all like, 'Take that, you pathetic excuse for a monster!' and 'Ha! Your ninja bird skills are no match for my goat hooves!' You guys had better go help him. I'll wrap this up with Nyssa and follow you."

Piper looked skeptical. "Leo, I don't hear anything."

Leo tried to be convincing. "What are you talking about? I hear him loud and clear! You need to get your ears checked, Pipes."

Then the last person Leo expected to come to his rescue did. Frank turned into an owl and flew at the door. He paused a few seconds before returning to human form. "Leo's right," Frank said simply. "There are, like, a thousand birds up there."

Hazel raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment. "Well, then we'd better get up there!" she said. "Coach could be in trouble!" She flung open the door and raced upstairs. The others had no choice but to follow her. _Thanks, man_, Leo mouthed at Frank. Frank nodded. _No problem._

When they'd all left, Leo locked the door and turned back to Nyssa. She looked confused. "If Coach Hedge is in trouble… Shouldn't you be up there helping out too?"

Leo shook his head. "Sis, you are _so_ thick. I got rid of them so that you could tell me the Romans' deal alone, like you wanted."

Nyssa stared. "How did you know that?"

He grinned. "I know my siblings."

She rolled her eyes, but quickly grew sober. "All right then." She brought her voice down to a whisper. "The Romans… Well, they say that they might let up if we give them someone to blame. Apparently, you guys really demolished their camp or something."

"Hey, it was only _slightly_ destroyed when I left!" Leo insisted. "And it was _not_ my fault that I was possessed by one of Gaea's evil minion spirits!"

Nyssa stared. "Whatever. The point is, this scarecrow kid – who keeps brandishing stuffed bears at us while he talks, by the way, like it's supposed to be threatening – "

Leo nodded sagely. "That's Octavian for you."

"Yeah, him. The scarecrow kid says that if we give him Percy, who apparently swore that things would turn out all right on his life – which was a terrible idea, but Percy was never exactly known for his wisdom – or Annabeth, who is apparently a violation of nature because she's Athena's daughter… Well, he says that Rome will back off. But Leo," Nyssa said earnestly, "we all know that they'll kill whomever we give them, and we simply _cannot _afford to lose either Percy _or_ Annabeth. This camp would fall to pieces without them. Besides, if they're really in Tartarus like you say" – she shook her head in amazement – "which I still find hard to believe, then we _can't_ give them up. So really this was just a waste of your time. Sorry about that. I've got to go cook up a thousand more weapons now. Bye." She moved her hand to swipe through the message, but Leo was thinking frantically. Annabeth had told them about Reyna's peace offering in Charleston. (She'd basically said, "You'll be painfully executed… But your death might save your camp and everyone you care about.") Was it possible that the offer might still stand?

"Wait! Wait," he said quickly. "Did it have to be Percy or Annabeth? I mean… You said they needed someone to blame. Well, heck. If anyone, they could blame me."

Nyssa stared. "Are… are you saying…?"

"I'll come back to camp," Leo said, with more confidence than he felt. "I'll keep the Romans from attacking."

"_No!_" she said violently. "I mean… you can't! You're one of the seven too! They need you on that quest! And besides… Harley will miss you. And… And so will the rest of Cabin Nine."

That was about as sentimental as Nyssa got. Leo was touched. But he couldn't let this stand in his way. "Oh, come _on_, sis. You know the odds. Even if you do manage to defeat the Romans, the losses will be _terrible_ on both sides. And we need the fully combined forces of both Rome _and_ Greece if we have any chance of defeating Gaea. And anyway… I'm pretty sure I'm not needed anymore." Leo thought of Hazel. Frank made her so happy… She needed _him_ in her life – someone dependable and strong and ridiculously kind. She didn't need _Leo_. And Jason might've been Leo's best friend, but with Piper in his life Leo was almost constantly ignored. Not that it was the perfect son of Jupiter's fault or anything… And sure, everyone would be _sad_ if he died – Leo would haunt them all the way to Hades if they weren't – but they all had their perfect other half to comfort them. Leo didn't get a perfect other half. And if the Romans _did_ kill him – and Leo expected that they would – Leo wouldn't need one soon enough.

The thought was so depressing that Leo almost let Nyssa talk him out of the whole thing – she still didn't look convinced, which showed Leo that at least _one _person cared about him. But just then, Harley ran up to the IM. "Hey, Leo!" he smiled widely. "Look at this! It's my first perfectly forged knife!"

Leo forced a grin in return, ("Great job, Harley!") but he was secretly thinking about this kid's life. Camp Half-Blood was his home – maybe the first good one Harley had known. The same thing was true for most of the kids who were preparing to defend that home at all costs – even if it cost their lives. Leo couldn't let that happen. Even though he'd been working furiously on the _Argo II_ for most of his stay at camp, Leo had gotten to know a lot of kids. Will had a crush on that Hecate girl, Jess Rivers. Travis and Connor were the best friends to have around for laughs when even Leo was out of jokes – as long as he didn't let them anywhere near his tool belt. Katie was the one who had arranged an intervention for Annabeth when she'd locked herself into her cabin the day they found Percy's cabin empty. Chris was the only one who could talk anything resembling sense into Clarisse – and Clarisse herself tried to act tough, but everyone knew how fiercely she cared about her friends. And Cabin Nine? Over the last eight months, Cabin Nine had become the family Leo thought was impossible after that workshop fire.

Yes, Camp Half-Blood was the type of safe haven that Leo hadn't known for years. He couldn't give anyone – and especially not _Octavian_ – the chance to destroy that sort of home. Besides, Reyna seemed like she possessed _some_ common sense. Maybe Leo would have a chance against all of those Romans. And even if he didn't… Well, he would die doing the same kind of heroic stuff that Percy and Jason were famous for. Maybe Leo would even be remembered with a heroic legend similar to Percy Jackson's.

That was why Leo looked Nyssa firmly in the eye (after Harley had wandered off, of course) and said, "You can't stop me, sis. I'm going to do this with or without your approval, you know. I have to, for Cabin Nine, and for the rest of Camp Half-Blood. It's no use saving the world if there's no home to come back to at the end of the day."

Nyssa's eyes were glistening with – no way, were those _tears_? But she smiled at him with pride when she told him, "You still think you're useless, Leo, I can tell. But that's not true. You guys never would've gotten this far without that ship, Leo – the ship _you_ designed and built."

Leo grinned in spite of himself. "With a little help from Bunker Nine and my cursed Cabin Nine family."

She rolled her eyes. "It was all you, Leo. Everyone knows that. I just want _you_ to know… You will always be needed here. There will always be a bunk for you at Cabin Nine. And I'm pretty sure they need you on that ship too. No one does boss mechanic as well as you."

Leo swept an imaginary hat off his head and took a bow. "Why, thank you." He straightened and looked at her seriously. "I guess I'll see you soon, then, huh?"

Her tears came rushing back, but Nyssa was too tough to actually _cry_. She blinked them away. "See you soon, Leo. You… Are you _sure _you won't change your mind?"

Leo forced a smile. "Bye, Nyssa. And remember… don't mention Tartarus, Percy, or Annabeth to _anyone_. Not even Chiron. Some things people just don't need to know."

Nyssa nodded. "Well-said, Leo. Good-bye." Her words rang heavily in Leo's ears. They just sounded so _final_. With a sigh and a last glance at his older sister, Leo swept his hand through the image.

"Leo?" Piper was calling through the door. She sounded worried. Leo winced when he heard her. This heroic sacrifice thing was hard enough without pretending that it wasn't happening, for his friends' sakes. "We took care of the birds. Are you ready?"

_There were_ _actually_ _birds? _Leo thought with surprise. _Sweet!_ He forced his voice to sound chipper and normal-Leo-ish, not I'm-about-to-offer-myself-up-to-a-bunch-of-bloodth irsty-Romans-ish. "I'm coming, Pipes," he yelled. "Just offering some last-minute forging pointers!" Leo knew this wouldn't be the last time he would lie to his friends. If they knew what he was planning, they would never let him go. And Leo couldn't let them stop him.

He took a deep breath, cleared away a weird lump in his throat, and unlocked the door.

* * *

"So… Nyssa told you that they needed extra hands in the forge for the upcoming battle, and you said you'd be right there?" Jason asked skeptically.

Leo cleared his throat. "Yup. That's… that's exactly what happened. Nico… You can do that special shadow-travel thing, right?"

Nico nodded. Man, when they'd first picked up that kid, he'd been in _bad _shape. But now his eyes were clearer – less haunted, somehow – and he looked stronger. He could actually hold his own in a fight now. Leo figured that the son of Hades could probably manage a simple shadow travel across the ocean with one passenger, and the same journey back by himself. "No problem," he said confidently. "We're still almost a week from Greece. We can shadow-travel to camp, you can make some stuff, and we'll be back before the _Argo II_ needs to land."

Leo suddenly felt uncomfortable. He didn't really want Nico hanging around while he walked up to Thalia's tree and the Romans' white flag. "Actually, man," Leo said, "I might be awhile. There's a lot I'll have to do. It might be better if you take me there and then come back here for a few days. I'll IM you if – er, _when _I need to get picked up."

Hazel spoke up for the first time. Leo really wished she wouldn't say anything. In fact, he wished they would _all_ just let him walk off and get this over with. "I don't like it," she announced. "Maybe if we had been there while Nyssa was talking to you… But… Well, we're not supposed to go anywhere alone."

"Alone?" Leo forced a laugh. "I won't be alone! I'm traveling to an entire _camp_ of demigods!"

_Yeah, and even when I'm captured by Romans, I won't be_ alone_, _he thought. _I'm sure they'll stick me with a guard so I don't escape or anything. Really, you don't need to worry about that. I probably won't be alone… that is, until after they kill me. And then it really won't matter because I'll be in the Underworld with about fifteen trillion other spirits! Don't worry about me getting lonely, Hazel. I'll be fine in that regard._

Jason sighed and rubbed his neck. "Are you _sure_ you'll be all right?"

"Don't worry about me," Leo said firmly._ I won't be in any more trouble than Percy and Annabeth are in right now._ It wasn't exactly a straight answer, but Leo was tired of lying. "And I set the ship on half-autopilot mode. You'll need to steer to change course, or if you have to maneuver through monsters or something, but other than that, you guys should be good."

They nodded uneasily, and then Piper sighed. "I don't like it when we split up." She glanced at Jason, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and even Coach Hedge in turn. "When _any_ of us split up." They all nodded again. Then she finally looked at Leo, tilting her head to the side. She sighed and hugged him. "Be safe, Leo."

Leo tried to smile. "Thanks, Pipes." He looked at the others just like she had. Maybe Leo hadn't found his perfect other half yet – maybe he never would. But he had managed to find seven great friends on this quest (Percy and Annabeth included) and… Heck, he'd found eight. He'd count the coach. Leo was feeling generous. "Bye, guys," Leo said simply. It wasn't much of a farewell speech, but it wasn't supposed to sound like one. Hopefully, it would be _days_ before they found out what he'd done. And hopefully, when the time came, they would understand.

"You're a good delinquent, Valdez," Coach Hedge said gruffly. "Kick some monster butt for me over there."

Leo managed a grin. "Honestly, guys. You sound like I'm going on a dangerous mission or something! It's just forging weapons!" _At least, that's what you think._

"Well, knowing you, Leo, there's always the possibility that you'll fall into a vat of boiling Celestial bronze," Frank said. It was probably the first joke Leo had ever heard come out of Frank's mouth.

He stared. Then, slowly, a grin spread over his face. All of the tension between them – about Hazel, about fire, about _everything _– seemed to melt away. "It's a start, Zhang. That was almost kind of decent. It's a start."

Frank grinned. "See you later, Valdez."

Leo cleared his throat. "So, uh, yeah. I'll just be going now." He tried not to remember that it was probably the last time he'd see any of them. He looked at Nico's shoes, not sure that he could keep it together if he met his eyes. "Come on, man."

They walked into a shadow and Leo grabbed onto Nico's arm. And then they were gone.

* * *

"Leo!" Nico had managed to shadow-travel straight into the forges, and Harley was tackle-hugging him. All of Leo's siblings were about fifty times stronger than he was, even the eight-year-old one. The hug was well intentioned, but _painful_. "I didn't know you were coming!"

Nico looked at Leo sharply. "He doesn't know you're coming? But does that mean-?"

"Nyssa must've wanted to surprise him," Leo said smoothly. "After all, it isn't like good surprises are easy to come by these days, is it? Usually surprises are very, very bad. She must've thought it would be a nice change."

"Are you going to stay for a long time, Leo?" Harley asked innocently.

Leo glanced at Nico awkwardly. He was barely managing to act normal as it was. Leo _could not_ have Nico finding out about his plan. Leo tried for a carefree grin. "We'll see, little dude. Now, where's Nyssa?"

Harley smiled widely. "I'll get her. Man, Leo, it's so great to see you!" He ran deeper into the forges.

Leo had to get Nico out of here before Nyssa came. He didn't know if she would keep her mouth shut. "Dude, you should go. I'm here, and I'm about as safe as a demigod can get. Tell the others I'm fine, okay? I'll IM you…" He didn't add the last part. _I'll IM you… if I survive._

Nico was suspicious; Leo could tell. "Maybe I should check with Nyssa first…"

Leo threw his hands into the air with exasperation. "Come on, man! Just go! _Please!_" _I can't take any more of this pretending!_

Nico peered at him. "What's going on, Leo?"

"What?" Leo instantly got defensive. "What do you mean, 'what's going on'? I'm just going to make weapons!"

Nico glared. "Don't act stupid, Leo. Nyssa told you about something the Romans told camp, didn't she? I'll bet it had to do with…" Nico's eyes widened. "No. It's like Charleston all over again, isn't it?" They'd told Nico about their adventures a long time ago. Now Leo wished that they hadn't been so thorough. "You're going to give yourself up because you think the Romans will let up on camp if you do!" Leo was silent. "Aren't you?!"

Something steeled Leo's nerves, and he looked Nico straight in the eyes. "You can't stop me, Nico. You know that, don't you? Nyssa couldn't, and she's my sister. So you should save your breath." Leo hoped he wasn't being too cruel. He wasn't _trying_ to be mean, but he was getting jumpy. If he was really going to do this thing, he needed to do it _now_.

Nico simply nodded. "I'm not going to stop you, Leo. I'm just going to remind you that this is a crazy thing you're doing… But it's brave, too."

Leo bit his lip. "Do you think…? Could you maybe not tell the others? I just think… they have enough on their plates as it is, what with worrying about Percy and Annabeth and all. I'm sure they'll find out soon enough, but I don't want them to find out just yet. Not… Not while there's still hope."

Nico laughed hoarsely. "_Hope?_ You think, against a legion of vengeful Romans, that there's still _hope_?"

Leo tried and failed to muster a smile. "Hey, man," he said, as cheerfully as he could manage. "With my charm and good looks? Anything's possible."

Nico just shook his head. "Okay, man. Good luck, then. I'll see you later… one way or another." _Oh, yeah_, Leo remembered. Nico's dad was Hades. Nico visited the Underworld all the time. If this _did_ kill Leo, at least he still might see Nico sometimes. The thought wasn't exactly consoling. "Well, uh, if you _do _make it…" Nico continued, "IM us. I'll come get you."

"Thanks, man," Leo muttered. He was glad Nico was the one here right now. The others might've argued or tried to act overly optimistic about his odds. Nico told it to him straight, while still trying to be encouraging. He didn't waste time beating around the bush. And… well, he understood about death and sacrifices. He knew why Leo was doing what he was doing.

Just then, Nyssa walked in. She didn't seem to notice Nico; she just looked straight at Leo for a second before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She let it out slowly. "Leo…" she said quietly. "Are… are you ready?"

Leo glanced at Nico and gave him a salute. He wasn't sure why. It just felt right, somehow. "Better get going, dude."

Nico nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Like, literally _disappeared_. He'd shadow-traveled away.

Leo took a deep breath just like Nyssa's. "Yeah," he told her. "I'm ready. Lead the way."

* * *

**Any thoughts?**


	2. Part II

***Me, at an unmentionably late hour last night* Oh my gosh, eight reviews? :O**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! :D **

**And even thanks, guys who read and didn't review... In appreciation, have another chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I wasn't Rick Riordan yesterday. Today is no different.**

* * *

**Nico**

"Did you get there safely?" Hazel asked anxiously, as soon as Nico stumbled into the dining room. He had a pounding headache, even though it shouldn't have been that hard of a journey – he guessed he hadn't exactly fully recovered from his time in Tartarus. All Nico wanted to do was collapse on the floor, but Hazel was talking to him. "Is Leo all right?"

_At this very moment?_ "Yeah, he's fine." _In the next few minutes? Maybe not so much._

Piper laid a hand on Nico's shoulder. "You did a good job, Nico," she said kindly. "You should probably get some rest now."

Nico's eyes closed then, but he felt Hazel grab him arm to keep him from falling. "Gods, you must be exhausted. Come on, Nico. Let's go find your room."

Nico was almost _glad_ that he was so close to passing out. At least this way, he didn't have to pretend that Leo was happily making swords and battleaxes at camp… Not marching towards a horde of Romans with a grudge.

* * *

**Reyna**

The arrow buried itself into the ground about ten feet from Reyna – far enough that she knew it missed her intentionally, but close enough that she knew it was meant for her. A piece of paper was attached.

_Leo Valdez is here, _it read. _He has decided to climb this hill, unarmed and unguarded, because he wishes to be the exchange you mentioned earlier. Do you give your word to let him reach the top unharmed?_

Reyna glared at the camp that lay before her. Its weather was always perfect. Its cabins were arranged by godly parent. The campers had hardly any order or discipline. How could the Greeks have lasted so long? Their military strategy was simply _inferior_ to Rome's. And yet… And yet, sometimes Reyna envied them their lack of strict rules. Punishments seemed… less _severe_ at Camp Half-Blood. She did not believe that the Greeks ever had to worry about power struggles. And their oracle was certainly no Octavian.

Now Reyna looked back at the augur in question. He gloated and badgered her constantly – _Reyna, I was right about Greeks, admit it; you should not have trusted Percy Jackson, Reyna; I should have been praetor from the start, Reyna; we should attack the Greeks now, Reyna, before they are prepared_. If anything would drive Reyna to insanity, it would be Octavian.

She knew how Octavian would respond to this note. _They are Greeks, Reyna! We can never trust Greeks! Forget this! We attack the camp! NOW!_

_Luckily for Rome_, Reyna thought dryly, _Octavian is not praetor. I am. Therefore, I still – technically – outrank him. And so maybe there is still hope for this legion._

"Dakota!" she called out suddenly. The centurion of the fifth cohort stepped out of his rank.

"Yes, Praetor?"

She smiled thinly, but it didn't reach her eyes. Reyna's smiles rarely did anymore. "I need a pen. And an archer."

* * *

Soon her reply was sent whistling down to the large blue house at the end of the green, and Reyna stood erect and waited. All she really wanted to do was pull aside one of her friends and swordfight, ignoring her responsibilities in favor of a friendly fight to the death. But she had to be strong and set an example for her army – and besides, none of her friends were around for her to spar _with_. Gwen had retired, Bobby was still recovering from the skirmish in Charleston, Dakota was getting even more drunk on Kool-Aid than usual now, and Jason… No. Reyna would not allow herself to think about that cheating offspring of Jupiter. Venus had warned her last year that children of Jupiter tended to break hearts as often as their father. At the time, Reyna had shrugged off Venus's advice, or tried to. Now, though, Reyna knew she should've listened. Jason had decided that he'd rather have a pretty girl with feathers in her hair than Reyna, who had stood by him when the rest of Rome abandoned him. She'd like to see Piper McLean do the same.

Of course, Reyna was over Jason already. He could be as thickheaded as he wanted. After all, Rome was already marching on Camp Half-Blood. _When we take this place_, Reyna thought grimly, _he will see what his mistakes have cost him._

Then Reyna crossed her arms and shook her head slightly, enough to clear it, but not so hard that her legion would think her weak. Octavian's lies were affecting her once again. She would _not_ allow herself to stoop to his level – or Jason's. It would be _so_ easy for Reyna to start a war against the people who had taken Jason in last year, as revenge for Jason's betrayal. But she was better than that. She knew that the world could not _afford_ a civil war between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. It would take both camps, united, to ward off the forces of Gaea. Percy had told her that, and her mother had told her that, in dreams, and Reyna knew that it was true. So instead of taking out her frustration on the Greeks' camp in the absence of Jason himself, Reyna pushed her feelings down deeper, closed her heart off from the world, and waited for Leo Valdez to climb over the top of the hill. The parley had begun.

* * *

**Leo**

Leo's ADHD fingers were itching to fiddle with parts from his tool belt as he climbed up to Thalia's pine. But Leo knew that would make him look weak to the Romans. Instead, he stuck his hands in his pockets. _There's still hope_, he told himself (so that he wouldn't pass out from fear). _They said there would be a trial, right? There's still hope._

With this kind of thinking, he managed to reach Thalia's pine without turning around and dashing back down the hill, screaming, "Save me!" The Romans were waiting.

In different circumstances, Leo might've noticed that Reyna was really pretty. As it was, his eyes went straight to her scary metal dogs, which were growling at him menacingly. He cleared his throat and spoke, thanking all the gods when his words didn't come out as squeaks. "Hey, uh, magnificent praetor of Rome? Do you think you could, uh, call off your, uh, bodyguards?"

The edges of Reyna's mouth curled up, but Leo knew better than to mistake her expression for a smile. "You fired on my camp, Valdez." She said it simply and quietly. "The dogs stay."

Leo also knew better than to argue his case – not yet, anyway. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and nodded. "Fair enough."

Just then, Octavian rushed over. From the looks of the fluff in his straw hair, Leo figured the guy had been murdering stuffed animals again. "Reyna!" he shouted furiously. "What in Mars's name is this… this _graecus_ doing here?"

Reyna's quiet smirk looked deadly to Leo. He was amazed that the augur wasn't backing down. "Last time I checked," she said softly, "I didn't need _your _permission to make decisions of war."

"Maybe not," Octavian admitted, "but you need the senate's!" He smiled like he'd won. But Leo wasn't so sure. Reyna seemed too confident, too unfazed. She looked like she'd already prepared every line she needed to knock Octavian off his high horse.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, Octavian, the senate house is in New Rome at the moment. It's a bit hard to hold a meeting in a building at the other end of the continent. Besides, the legion" – Leo noticed how she didn't say "I" or "we", instead choosing to imply that this was the people's decision – "has already agreed to give the Greeks the chance to hand over one of their own to stand trial. It's been decided that the trial may serve as a replacement for our destruction of Camp Half-Blood."

Leo knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn't help interrupting. "Wait…" he said. "_May?_ What do you mean, it _may_ serve as a replacement?"

Reyna just shrugged. But the look in her eyes showed Leo that she felt just a little bit sorry for him. Leo took that as a challenge. He didn't need Roman sympathy, and he certainly didn't need _Reyna's_. He knew what he was getting into with this heroic sacrifice business. "It depends on the ruling of the trial," Reyna told him. "You could die _and_ we could march on your camp, or you could just die, or we could just march on your camp and let you go, or we could give up on the whole thing. Those are all options."

"We will _not _give up entirely!" Octavian broke in indignantly. "We _cannot _let this fool go unpunished!"

"_Octavian!_" Reyna said sharply. "It is, and will remain, an option. Whether or not the legion decides to choose that depends on the outcome of the trial."

When Reyna said "the legion", an idea popped into Leo's head. It was crazy, and maybe stupid, and it maybe wouldn't make a difference, but Leo latched onto it anyway. He coughed. Instantly, Reyna and Octavian and the dogs wheeled on him. "What?" Octavian asked impatiently. Reyna just raised a curious eyebrow.

With that many unsympathetic eyes on him, all Leo wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry, "Don't hurt me!" But he forced himself to look them in the eye right back (especially Reyna, since she was the nicest – wow, that was sad; _Reyna_ was the nicest) and say, "Is it possible that we could return to Camp Jupiter and use that fancy senate house you're so fond of, Octavian, to hold my, uh, trial? And make it so that New Rome residents can vote on the outcome along with the legion and the Lares and the senators and whoever else usually votes on these types of things?" Leo thought that maybe civilians would be more compassionate towards him and his cause.

Octavian was turning positively _red_ with indignation. "_New Rome residents voting on a trial? _That's simply – "

"Quite reasonable," Reyna interrupted quickly. Leo could've sworn she nodded at Leo before continuing. All he could do was stare at her in surprise and shock. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw Octavian doing much the same thing. "After all, I'd say that a civil war between Greeks and Romans concerns retired legionnaires as well as current ones. Wouldn't you? Besides, the damage and destruction that war invariably results in would affect both the legion _and _New Rome, I think." She turned to Leo and spoke directly to him. He forced himself to look thoughtful and agreeable, not dumbfounded. "I accept your proposal. We will begin the flight to Camp Jupiter as soon as possible."

Octavian actually _stumbled over his words_ as he struggled to protest – he was that flustered. "But – Reyna – the senate!"

Reyna had already turned to address her army, but she looked back at Octavian for one last argument. She was so furious that her words came out in a _snarl_. "As I understand it, _Octavian_, praetors outrank centurions in Roman society. Would you agree with that statement?"

Octavian nodded mutely. "Good. Now, because I outrank you, I believe that means that I listen to your advice out of _courtesy_ and nothing more. However, when you speak to me in this way, I feel my patience for courtesy beginning to wear thin. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

He nodded again, but Reyna wasn't waiting for an answer. "I'm saying that I have decided to stop listening to your advice. And I certainly will not _follow_ it unless it is perfectly sound and sensible. It is perfectly within my power to decide who will serve as jurors in a trial. It is also within my power to decide where to hold a trial. I don't believe I'm misusing my powers at all. Please, if it's written somewhere in Rome's laws that I'm wrong, then enlighten me."

Octavian was silent. "Perfect! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a legion to speak to," Reyna said haughtily. She paused, and then stepped forward so that her face was uncomfortably close to Octavian's. Leo was pleased to note that she was about two inches taller than the augur. "Oh, and one last thing," she whispered, in an "argue-and-you're-dead" tone of voice. "I don't believe that we're friends, Octavian. I think any member of the legion would agree with me there. And so, because we are not friends, or even _friendly_, you will address me as 'Praetor', or 'Praetor Reyna'. Are we clear?"

Octavian cleared his throat awkwardly. "We're clear… Praetor."

She smiled the way a wolf might. "I'm so glad." Then, finally, Reyna turned and looked down at her massive five cohorts of an army gathered below her on the hill. They'd been talking amongst themselves when Leo had first arrived, but by the time Reyna had finished rebuking Octavian, every legionnaire was silent, their eyes fixed on their praetor. Leo didn't blame them. That was the best entertainment he'd seen in weeks.

"Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" Reyna called out. "Leo Valdez has come to stand trial. We will be returning to Camp Jupiter's senate house to hold this trial, and the residents of New Rome will participate in deciding its outcome. If there are any _more_ objections," she glared pointedly at the Romans' augur, "talk to me directly, please. Prepare your eagles. We leave in an hour. That is all." As soon as she finished, the legionnaires jumped up and began rushing to pack their things. Leo could see easily why Reyna was the camp's praetor. She had this commanding aura that _forced_ people to take her seriously. She was Roman through and through, she was dedicated to her legion, and she was powerful _and_ fair at the same time. Really, Leo was surprised that Octavian ever dared to stand up to this girl. Leo knew he never would.

To Leo's surprise, the praetor in question then turned to talk to him. "This doesn't mean that I forgive you," she told him curtly. "I am allowing this trial because a civil war is highly impractical, but you fired on my camp. That is beyond forgiveness."

Leo took the opening. "_I_ didn't fire on your camp," he promised. "Gaea sent these eidolons onto the _Argo II_, and one of them possessed me and _forced_ me to do it and… it's a long story."

Reyna tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. Then she glanced down at her dogs, which were sitting at her sides, alert but not growling. "You're telling the truth," she said in surprise.

"Of course I'm telling the truth!" Leo said. "You think I don't know that a civil war is, uh, impractical too?" He spread his arms wide. "We would lose hundreds of demigods – hundreds of our _friends_. Besides, Gaea is counting on us to destroy each other. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to play right into Ms. Dirt Face's hands."

Reyna raised her eyebrows. "A reasonable Greek? How… interesting."

Leo resisted the urge to point out that Greeks weren't the people who had marched on a camp and went straight to the death negotiations without even _trying_ to talk things out first. He just stood still as Reyna looked at him thoughtfully.

"You will ride with me, Leo Valdez," she said eventually, leaving no room for argument. "I think we will have much to… _discuss_."

Despite how she'd stood up for him, Reyna still scared Leo. He didn't exactly look forward to spending days in the air _alone_ with this girl. But what choice did he have? "That… that will be great. Thanks, uh, Praetor."

Reyna surprised Leo yet again when she smiled. It was short and small, but it showed him that she _was_ human after all. "You can call me Reyna, Valdez. I only have that problem with Octavian."

Leo grinned in return. "I don't blame you. If I had a fancy title to use and I was Roman and had authority with you guys, I'd tell Octavian to use that fancy title with me too. Unfortunately, that was a lot of ifs. I don't think Octavian will ever call me 'Supreme Commander Valdez' or anything. You're lucky."

He'd been trying to lighten the mood a little, but his comment only closed her off more. She sighed. "You seem more… _tolerable_ than some of the legionnaires I know." Leo decided to take that as a compliment. "In different circumstances, we might've been friends, Valdez."

"Hey, it could still happen," Leo insisted. "I'm guessing you know why I wanted to have the trial with the people living in New Rome. If I do this right, I might manage to make peace between camps. You shouldn't give up yet. This trial could stop a civil war."

Reyna looked at him sadly. "Don't get your hopes up too high. We Romans are not known for forgiveness. At the very least…" She sighed. "Well, you'll probably be executed. Painfully."

Leo crossed his arms stubbornly. "Well, I'm sorry for being optimistic about the chances of my imminent demise." Then he grinned. "Besides, you haven't seen the Valdez charm come out yet, Praetor. I once convinced a gaggle of nymphs that I was better than the almighty Narcissus. After that, anything is possible."

* * *

**Any thoughts?**


	3. Part III

**So I wasn't planning on posting a chapter today... But then I saw how many reviews/follows/favorites I had gotten, and I thought: Okay, they deserve it.**

**:) So thanks for the support! And have a chapter! **

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan might own the characters... But the plot is all mine. ALL MINE! Mwahahahahaha... He can't take everything from me. :)**

* * *

**Leo**

As soon as the eagles landed for the night, Leo got to work. While being followed by several huge teenagers that weren't fazed by _one_ of Leo's jokes, he found Dakota - the red Kool-Aid stains made the kid easy to spot - and got him to give Leo the cooking schedule. Then Leo found the twenty legionnaires who were currently turning on portable stoves and grumbling.

"Hey, guys," he said cheerfully. A few of the Fifth Cohort-ers just looked at him angrily, but most of the kids seemed straight-up hostile. Two of them even drew their swords.

He held up his hands – well, as well as he could, considering that they were bound in front of him – in a gesture of peace. "I'm not here to cause trouble," he promised. "Just wanted to see if you needed any help. Cooking for about a bazillion Romans must be a pain in the royal behind."

A burly African American with a frying pan in his hand snorted. "What makes you think we'll trust you with dangerous sharp objects like knives?"

Leo shrugged, deciding to leave out the fact that if he wanted, he could take a couple _interesting_ toys out of his tool belt that were a heck of a lot more dangerous than knives. Then the Romans might confiscate the belt, and seeing as it was the last connection Leo had to Camp Half-Blood right now, he'd prefer to keep it with him. "Hey, man, nobody said I had to chop vegetables. I'm cool with dish duty, stove maintenance, mixing ingredients, or collecting firewood, if that's ever necessary for some reason."

A thin girl with short, equally thin blond hair nudged the teenage bodybuilder in the side. "Let him help," she muttered. "I hate washing dishes."

The kid nodded reluctantly. "Fine. But any funny business, and I don't care what Reyna says. I'll stab you myself."

Leo grinned. "Fair enough." So maybe the Romans still wanted to kill him. But it was progress.

* * *

The blond girl accepted the food Leo served her wordlessly, but after she took a bite, that all changed. "Holy Venus," she said in surprise. "This is fantastic!"

Leo took a fake bow. "Thank you, Catherine Mougallo. I'm thinking that after I save the world a couple times to get a little experience under my belt, I'll start my very own Leo's Taco Garage. I'll be famous in thirty-seven countries!"

She smiled – the first real smile Leo had ever seen a legionnaire give him. "You don't have to call it a _taco_ garage, Valdez. You should make fusion cuisine – to go with all that worldly experience."

He pretended to consider it. "Nah," he said. "Leo's Taco-Orange-Chicken- Hamburger-Sushi-Meatloaf-Lasagna-Falafel Garage just doesn't have the same ring to it."

Catherine laughed at that. "Well, whatever you decide… Good luck with that, Valdez." And she went to go sit with her friends. Leo hoped that she told all of them how awesome he was. Then maybe he'd have six or seven votes on his side.

* * *

**Nico**

Nico woke up surrounded by each and every member of the _Argo II_, minus the coach, who was probably steering. In any case, that would explain why the ship was veering to port and starboard with no apparent reason.

Everyone else was watching Nico anxiously. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "What are you looking at?" Nico asked, or tried to. It came out more like _whaddayalooka_, but Hazel seemed to understand.

"Nico," she said, "you've been out for two days."

At that, Nico wrenched himself fully into consciousness. "Two _days_?" he choked out.

"Yeah," Piper broke in. "We gave you nectar and ambrosia and food and water, but each time you just turned over and mumbled stuff about Harley-Davidson motorcycles, painful executions, or execution by motorcycle. You had us pretty worried."

Nico's eyes widened. How could he have forgotten about Leo, even for just a minute? For all Nico knew, Leo could be _dead _already! _Some friend you are_, he scolded himself. Then, without another word, he climbed out of bed and ran out of the room.

* * *

Of course the others followed him – especially Hazel, who seemed rather worried about his mental health – but Nico locked the door of the dining room before they could get in. "What in _Hades_, Nico?" Jason yelled through the door. "A minute ago you were barely conscious!"

"Come out, Nico," Hazel pleaded. "You're definitely not ready to be moving around on your own."

"I'm fine!" Nico promised, although the world was starting to spin around him. "Just give me a minute."

"Nico, please come out." It was Piper. "Don't you want to explain what's going on to us first?" Suddenly, Nico had the urge to unlock the door and spill Leo's secret. Instead, the son of Hades ran to the other side of the room and grabbed a drachma out of their emergency stash. Then he stepped back and looked at the giant scene of camp on the wall. Right now it was panning over the green and the omega-shaped line of cabins. Nyssa had managed to IM them through the wall… but how could he pull it off from this end? Nico shrugged and flicked his coin into the air. "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show Nyssa of Camp Half-Blood." Percy had told them about the shortcut, and Nico was hoping it would work in his favor here. To his surprise, it did. When Nyssa popped up on the screen, Nico was almost as startled as she was. "Gods of Olympus, Nico!" Nyssa yelped, shaking her hand in the air. "You made me touch my sword! _While I was forging it in a fire!_"

"Sorry," Nico said. He decided to just cut to the chase. "But I had to know… What happened to Leo?"

Nyssa just stared. "It's been two _days_, Nico. What took you so long?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. "Um… Shadow traveling was more exhausting than I'd anticipated. I've kind of been passed-out for the last two days."

"Oh. That would explain why you look even more like death than normal," Nyssa said, trying to lighten the mood. A bit of Valdez humor had rubbed off on all of Cabin Nine, but both of them knew it wouldn't help here. It just reminded Nico of Leo's sacrifice even more painfully.

"Nyssa, what happened to Leo?" Nico asked again.

"Uh… I'm not exactly sure. He went up the hill, talked to the girl with a purple cloak and the scarecrow dude, the girl and the scarecrow dude had some sort of face-off, and then the girl talked to all of the Romans. An hour later they climbed onto their eagles and flew away. I saw Leo give me a thumbs-up, though, so maybe he's still okay. Depending on how far they're going, he could still be in the air right now."

"How did you see all of this? It's not like the Romans would've let you sit in on their discussion or anything."

She grinned. "We built a periscope into Cabin Nine a _long_ time ago, Nico. It's come in handy many times."

Nico shook his head. "You guys get all the cool stuff."

"Yeah. But it's gotten a lot cooler since Leo joined us." She paused. "He _is_ going to be okay, right? I mean… He's one of the seven! He can't die because of some stupid rivalry, can he?"

Nico just shook his head. He didn't know any more than she did.

"Nico?" It was Hazel. "What are you _doing_ in there? What's taking you so long?"

"You didn't tell them?" Nyssa asked, surprised.

"I've been unconscious!" Nico said defensively. "Besides… Leo asked me not to."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't want them to worry. Especially not while Percy and Annabeth are" – he dropped his voice to a whisper in case any of Nyssa's cabin mates were around – "in Tartarus." He shivered. Just mentioning the name unearthed a well of bad memories… But he shoved them down and capped the well. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Percy was counting on him to lead everyone to the House of Hades, and there was no _way_ Nico was going to disappoint him by freaking out about that place all over again and losing it. Nico knew he hadn't always been the best good guy. Here was his chance to make up for it.

"Anyway," he said, "it's going to be bad for them down there, and we all know it. Leo thinks that we have enough on our plates without worrying about him too."

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "Typical Valdez. 'I'm worthless and nobody cares about me', blah blah blah. We've heard it all before, and we all totally ignore it. If you won't tell them, I will. It's only fair."

Nico scratched his head. "I promised Leo that I wouldn't… But you can tell them if you want. You… Have you told anybody at camp about what he's done?"

She nodded. "_Everyone _knows. They saw him climb the hill. If someone didn't know him before as the engine-grease-stained dude in charge of the giant ship in the secret bunker, they now know him as the stupid idiot who gave himself up for all of us."

"Nico! Come out of there!"

"Just a minute, Hazel!"

"Let them in, Nico! They deserve to know what Leo did like the rest of us do."

Nico shrugged. "Fine. But if… _when_ Leo gets back, I'm making sure he blames you, not me." And with that, he opened the door.

"Finally!" Hazel hugged him. "Gods, Nico! You shouldn't even be _standing_ right now, let alone running down hallways and – Oh, hi Nyssa." Iris-messages didn't bother Hazel anymore. She barely flinched.

The others filed in behind her. "So _that's_ what you were doing," Piper said. "But didn't you think the rest of us would've liked to talk to her too? And why isn't Leo here? Don't tell me he got absorbed in making something and forgot about us again."

The others laughed, but Nico just looked at them miserably. "Nyssa has some news for you," he mumbled.

Frank immediately looked anxious. "What news?" he demanded. "And don't tell me it's good news. Demigods _never _have good news."

Piper crossed her arms and glared at Nyssa. "Well? Spit it out! What has Leo done now?"

To buy time, Nyssa pulled off her bandana, wiped some oil off her hands, and tied the cloth back around her head. Nico hoped she used _really_ good shampoo at night. "He… Uh, how should I say this?" Nyssa wasn't the touchy-feely type. Honestly, neither was Nico. He could tell she didn't know how to be the bearer of bad news. "Um… Leo… He… LeogavehimselfuptotheRomans."

_"What?"_

* * *

**Reyna**

Reyna wanted to believe that Leo Valdez could unite their camps – she really did. But it was simply too much to hope for. Rome and Greece had been fighting for millennia. Somehow, Reyna doubted that one trial could end the hostility between them.

Still, she had to admit that he was trying. He'd given himself up out of loyalty to his camp, which was an incredibly brave thing to do. Reyna almost _admired_ this son of Vulcan for it. Besides that, he did his best to be helpful every time they alighted to set up camp. So far, he'd cooked some incredible dinners, started campfires, fixed a legionnaire's bent sword, and made s'mores. Octavian still glared at Leo whenever he went anywhere near the First Cohort, but the other cohorts, especially the Fifth, were starting to warm up to him. Dakota especially loved to hang out with Leo, calling him the Human Torch and laughing whenever Leo lit his hand on fire to humor the guy. Reyna always watched her legion carefully – it discouraged brawls and unfriendly fights between them and kept her in touch with her people – so she noticed when they stopped laughing at _graecus_ jokes ("Why did the _graecus_ cross the road? He was running to his mama to escape the Romans!") and started wondering if all Greeks were as cool as Leo and Percy had been. ("You know, Percy was _awesome_ – the best fighter we had, even if he _was_ Greek. And Leo makes great fajitas…") Slowly but surely, Leo Valdez was gaining votes.

Reyna wondered whether he was _trying_ to be charismatic, or if he was just naturally funny. She had to try really hard not to laugh when Leo told her jokes during the long days of flying. She _was_ the praetor and led the formation, after all. It would not do for her to be laughing too hard to see where she was going. So she put on a disinterested face and focused on the clouds. But gods of Olympus, it was hard.

"We'll be landing in Rome before it gets dark," she said now, looking over her shoulder.

"Are you serious?" he complained. "I haven't told you my best jokes yet! I was saving them for tomorrow!"

"You have more important things to worry about," she told him. "Octavian is going to want to have your trial as soon as we land."

"Really?" he asked in mock surprise. "I'd forgotten why I was taking a cross-country trip with people who are supposed to be my archenemies! Oh golly!" He grinned. "Don't sweat it, Reyna. I've been writing my mental speech for the last three days. It's epic enough to win over Terminus."

She wasn't impressed. "If you want to survive this, your speech has to be good enough to win over _Octavian_."

Leo crossed him arms. "I seriously doubt that. Camp Jupiter is hardly big enough to hold _one_ person that idiotic, prideful, greedy, vengeful, power-hungry, and pompous. No one else could _possibly_ be that ridiculous. Otherwise New Rome would have exploded long before I got there."

Reyna wasn't fast enough to hide her smile. Leo grinned triumphantly. "See? If I can get _you_ to smile, I can _any_ Roman to smile! Besides Octavian, but he doesn't count. Just watch, Reyna. I can do this." He shrugged. "I have to."

Suddenly, Reyna saw an eagle break formation. She was about to yell at the offending legionnaire before she realized that it was Dakota. "Uh, Reyna…?"

"Yes?"

"You _do_ realize that at the course you're setting right now, we're going to end up crashing into Berkeley's newly renovated mall, right?"

Reyna looked down in surprise. They _were_ skimming rather close to the town's residential area. Leo snorted. "Nice going, Praetor."

Reyna sat up straight, tugged the reins, and pulled her eagle out of its dive elegantly. Her legion followed her precisely like the true Romans they were. "As a matter of fact, I did know that, Dakota. I was testing the legion's observation skills. If we are ever in battle and I am put out of action, I need to know that you will still be able to continue to function as one working unit. Congratulations, Dakota. You've passed."

"Uh-huh. Sure, Reyna."

"Shut up, Valdez. Dakota, you may return to your position now."

He nodded and glided away. Then Leo collapsed onto the eagle, gasping for air. He had tears in his eyes. "That… was _hilarious_. Do you use that trick a lot, Reyna? Either Dakota was even more drunk on Kool-Aid than normal, or he _never _has any sense."

"Shut up," Reyna said again. "I need to concentrate. If I veer off-course again, Octavian will cite that in his argument against you. And some of the oldest Lares will take that to heart."

Leo calmed down a little, but his shoulders were still shaking. "Yes, ma'am, Praetor, ma'am. Whatever you say."

Reyna rolled her eyes and suppressed a smile. "That's enough out of you for one day, Valdez. I'll let you talk again when we land." Of course, Leo used that as permission to launch into a story about a small centaur automaton that liked to attack campers. Once again, Reyna focused her energy on watching the skies and refusing to laugh.

* * *

**Yay, Reyna is tolerating him! She even thinks he's funny! Hahaha, I shouldn't be so excited; it's my story. I know what's going to happen. :P**

**Any thoughts?**


	4. Part IV

**So let me just say, you guys all rock! :) Thanks for the follows, the favorites, and ESPECIALLY the reviews. :) I know I haven't responded to all you awesome reviewers personally yet (sorry?) but I will, I promise. After all, you took an extra minute or so to tell me what you thought. The least I can do is take an extra thirty seconds or so to say thanks. :)**

**Question: Can anybody tell me what the difference between a visitor and a viewer is (in the Traffic Stats)? Thanks!**

**Special shout-out to curly11pig, who has faithfully reviewed every chapter of every story I have on here! You are amazing. :)**

**Sorry for the long author's note... Here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, I wouldn't be putting this story on here. I would be incorporating it into HoH and making it canon. :P**

* * *

**Leo**

Leo was determined to make Reyna laugh before he left Rome (whichever way he left Rome – either by shadow traveling back to the _Argo II_ or death). He knew it would be a challenge, but he was sure he was up to it. After all, he bet Jason had made Reyna laugh before, and that dude was _never_ funny. If Jason could do it, Leo could do it better.

Octavian had rushed to the senate house as soon as they landed, like Reyna had suspected he would. He tried to get the trial scheduled for that night, but it was a Friday and _nobody_ wanted to sit around debating a world-changing decision until three in the morning. Instead, the hearing would begin at precisely eleven in the morning tomorrow. Leo had about sixteen hours until he would begin to try to reason for his life. He doubted he would get any sleep tonight.

Now he and Reyna were standing on a random street talking because Leo didn't have anywhere else to be. Reyna had arranged for him to sleep in a tent or something (guarded, of course – Octavian had insisted on it), but Leo was too antsy to go to bed. "Why don't you run your speech by me?" Reyna suggested. "I know this camp. I can give you advice."

"Uh… No," Leo said. "I don't do dress rehearsals."

"Leo, you do know that it isn't just _your_ life that's on the line here, right?" Reyna said. "I'm the one vouching for you. If the vote goes badly, I'll probably be kicked out of my job at the very least. At the worst, I could be disowned."

Leo looked at her with admiration. "And you're doing it anyway."

She shrugged. "My job is to protect Rome as I see fit. Right now, I'm taking that to mean that I need to save Rome from itself, whether or not that makes me popular. Besides, I know that we have to unite both camps if we want to defeat Gaea. If I'm not going to do something risky to _save the world_, then when _would_ I take a risk? If my job is the price I pay to save the world, fine. I'll pay it. I can't be selfish."

He nodded. "I know what you mean." He smiled, trying to play off his problems as no big deal. "I mean, obviously I do. Otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?"

He'd been trying to lighten the mood, but it only made Reyna look more serious. He seemed to have that effect on her. "That reminds me. I've been thinking about this question a little, and I can't seem to get a good answer. So I'm going to ask you. I know that you must be doing this because you know it's the right thing to do. But I have a feeling that there's more to it than that. Leo, why did you _really_ offer to stand trial like this?"

Leo paused. How much should he tell this girl? He hardly knew her, after all… But something told Leo that if he wanted to have a chance tomorrow, then he needed Rome's praetor to be completely on his side, with no doubts about him or his character. Leo figured that being honest was the first step to gaining Reyna's… well, maybe not her _trust_. He knew a little about Reyna's background from Percy and Jason, and it sounded to Leo like she'd gone through _way_ too much Styx to ever trust someone again. But if he couldn't get her trust, he could maybe get her to appreciate what he was doing. And then maybe, someday, if he lived, the trust part might even come.

So he shrugged and ran a hand through his hair while he tried to figure out what to say. "The signature funny-Valdez answer is that I'm doing this because the Apollo cabin makes up songs about heroes that are sung by generations of demigods, and I've always wanted to be famous. The heroic answer is that it's the properly heroic thing to do. The egotistical answer is that I can convince a million angry Romans that Greece is good, but no one else could; therefore, I have to be the one to go. The violent answer is that I hope to burn down more of New Rome before I die. The naïve answer is that I still think I have a chance. The selfless answer is that I would do anything for my friends."

Reyna crossed her arms. "And the true answer…?"

Leo sighed. "Well, I _have_ always wanted to be famous, I'm at least _pretending_ to myself that I have a chance, and I _would _do anything for my friends. I'm not planning on burning down New Rome, though, and I don't give a Styx about what is properly heroic. Also, Piper's way better than I am when it comes to convincing people of stuff. But if you want the answer that spills my deep dark Valdez secrets…" He shrugged again. "Would you believe me if I told you that I just don't want to screw up more than I already have?"

Reyna stared. "That's the truth? You don't think sacrificing yourself to us vengeful Romans is a screw-up of its own?"

Leo laughed. It sounded choked and twisted, even to him. "With all due respect, Praetor, my entire _life_ has been one screw-up after another. I'm pretty sure I killed my mom when I was eight, even if it was mostly Gaea's fault. I've been running from foster homes ever since, and made a boatload of mistakes in those places. I think my social worker lady was probably _glad_ when I vanished from the Wilderness School without a trace. And speaking of that school, I met Jason and Piper there and thought I'd gotten two best friends in them. They're cool for sure, but even that was a bust because now they're a couple and don't have time for the lowly mechanic. Also, the best thing I ever fixed – that epic bronze dragon Festus – was destroyed by lasers because I was too freaking tired to see where I was driving. I almost ruined Frank and Hazel's relationship because I looked like her dead boyfriend. A sea monster attacked us because I'd forgotten to turn on the sonar. I cracked open a fortune cookie Nemesis gave me to save Frank and Hazel's lives, but because of that Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. Besides that, _I _was the one the _eidolon_ possessed! _I_ was the one who fired on New Rome and got this whole mess started!" By this time, Leo was waving his arms in the air and shouting. He probably looked crazy, but Leo really couldn't care less. He _was_ crazy.

But then Leo saw a few non-legionnaires glancing at him weirdly, and he put his hands down and shoved them in his pockets. As mad at himself as he was, Leo didn't want them to vote to march on Camp Half-Blood because he'd been complaining about his Styx life. "Anyway," he said, "do I need to go on? You get the idea. Everything I do hurts someone. I'm… The true answer is that I'm doing this to make up for all of my mistakes. Then maybe everyone won't hate me for screwing up their lives. Maybe… Oh, Hades. I might as well tell you. I'm kind of hoping that if my mom can see me from Elysium – 'cause I just _know_ she made Elysium… I'm hoping that this might make her proud."

When Leo finished, he dropped his head and focused on kicking a rock as far as he could down the street. He didn't really want to see Reyna's shock and disgust at his lowliness written all over her face.

But that wasn't what Leo got. Instead, he heard something that, if he didn't know Reyna better, Leo would've guessed was a laugh. That in itself was enough to make Leo raise his head – and stare. Reyna _was_ laughing. And it wasn't a calm, gentle smile kind of laugh or a snorting, you're-an-idiot kind of laugh. It was amusement, plain and simple. Leo didn't even think Reyna knew what amusement _was_. "Leo Valdez," she gasped out, "I… have never known _anyone_… with as little self-worth as you. Gods, if only you would give some of that humbleness to _Octavian_… The legion would be in good shape."

Leo just kept staring. He'd spent the entire flight trying to get Reyna to laugh – _the entire freaking flight _– and he had barely gotten a smile out of her. Now he's serious for probably the first time in his life, and she thinks it's _funny_? Leo shook his head. It was official. He would never understand girls. _Think of it this way, Valdez_, he told himself. _If you_ are _sentenced to death tomorrow, at least you will have made Reyna laugh before you go. _Strangely, he didn't find that particularly comforting.

"We've all made mistakes," Reyna said eventually, after she'd calmed down. "I mean, I alienated myself from my sister for years… But we can't let our mistakes define us." She'd sobered up completely by now. "Leo… If you're only doing this because you're worried you've let your camp down already, then I don't know if you'll be able to get everyone on your side. We Romans respect _strength_, and although _I_ think you're being brave, that reason… might come out as weak to them."

Leo shook his head. "Reyna, with all due respect, you can't honestly think that I'm going to tell the senate that tomorrow! I'm not _that_ stupid!"

"Oh. Then… Why are you telling _me_?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's kind of like a thank you for helping me out."

The setting sun lit up Reyna's face, making it seem like she was blushing. But Leo knew that was just an illusion. Reyna just wasn't the blushing type. "Don't get too full of yourself, Valdez," she warned. "I'm not doing this for _you_."

"Yeah, I know, you're doing it for Rome and the legion and whatever," Leo said. "But some part of you is doing it for me too, right?" He winked.

The sun got redder. "Whatever gives you the confidence to blow them away tomorrow," Reyna said, rolling her eyes. But she smiled at him.

Leo had the sudden urge to lean forward and kiss Reyna. They were standing so close together – he would've barely had to move. As soon as Leo thought that, though, he took a quick step back. First of all, Leo figured he was just going crazy from worrying about the trial. She was _Reyna_. She was _scary_. There was no _way_ he could like her. Second, even if he did like her (which he totally did _not_), she and Jason had too much history for Leo to step in now. It'd be awkward, even if Jason did claim that he'd never thought of Reyna that way. (Leo was glad she hadn't been around to hear that – ouch.) And third, even if he did like her and Reyna liked him back (which she _definitely_ didn't) and Jason hadn't been in the picture, it would've been cruel to make a move and get her hopes up when he could die tomorrow. Leo took another step back for good measure.

Reyna noticed. "What?" she teased. "Don't tell me you're going to bed already. It's only _seven_."

"Of course not," Leo said. "I'm just… ADHD, you know. Can't stay in the same place for too long."

"Great," Reyna said. "Then let's start winning you some votes."

Leo snorted. "I feel like a politician."

"Ancient Rome was full of politicians," Reyna informed him. "Including Julius Caesar."

Leo gulped. Julius Caesar's story hadn't ended too well for him. "In that case, I feel like, uh, whatever the opposite of a politician is. Let's go win some votes, Rey."

* * *

**Yay! They're bonding! :P**

**Any thoughts?**


	5. Part V

_**45 reviews?! **_**You guys, I can't even... :DDDD Thanks so much! :D**

**Dedication: To my friend, whose birthday is today. (You know who you are. ;) Enjoy! (Even though you don't even like Leyna all that much, but whatever this is dedicated to you anyways... :P)**

**And now, on with the story! :)**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, I would have made Leo and Reyna become best friends in MoA, instead of Leo becoming possessed and destroying half of New Rome... :P**

* * *

**Reyna**

Reyna didn't think Leo had purposefully used that nickname. It had just slipped out. Nevertheless, it hurt. A long time ago – back when she'd thought naïvely that Jason would never hurt her – he'd called her "Rey". It had been about then when Reyna had realized how much she liked him. And now Leo was calling her that… _Stop it,_ she scolded herself. _Stop it right now. Your heart is too precious. You can't let it be broken again. Besides, you barely know this guy! Stick to what's important – you have to save Rome from itself. Forget your heart. _Once again, she pushed her feelings into a safe and locked it shut, forcing herself to forget the combination. Maybe someday she'd fish out the combination and open the safe again, but Reyna doubted it. Circe had been a terrible person, but she'd had some good advice mixed it with the nutty stuff. She'd said countless times that men were trouble, and maybe that wasn't _always_ true – Percy, for example, seemed to be Annabeth's perfect other half; Reyna could tell that they'd be together until one or both of them died – but it seemed to apply in Reyna's case. She didn't have the best luck with guys. That had become apparent after Jason reappeared with a new girlfriend like it was no big deal. So she had decided to keep her heart locked up – at least until someone came along that could prove himself to Reyna, and Reyna would make sure that wouldn't be easy. Until then, Reyna was just going to have to be single. And that was fine with her. Reyna didn't need a perfect other half to feel complete. She had too much work to do anyways.

"Where are we going?" Leo asked. Reyna slowed her purposeful walk down a tad when she saw how confused he was and reminded herself that he couldn't read her mind.

"Sorry," she said. "I just think we should go to every single shop in New Rome. They'll be open until at least nine-thirty. You can talk to people – the owners especially because they'll be able to convince their regulars – and use that Valdez charm you say you have so much of to get them on your side. We need a head start. Octavian won't have thought to do this. It'll give us an advantage."

"That's genius," Leo said in admiration. "If I do this right, I could have half of Rome on my side tomorrow before the trial ever starts."

"Don't get your hopes up too high," Reyna warned. "Most people aren't going to be persuaded easily."

"Relax, Rey," Leo grinned. There it was – the nickname again. Reyna forced herself to stop caring. "You've seen me in action with the legionnaires. This _will_ work."

"It'd better," Reyna warned. But she found herself believing what he said.

* * *

Reyna hadn't been in _Cenare_ since the day she'd gotten Annabeth hot chocolate. That had been less than two weeks ago, but it felt like ages. Since then, Reyna had had her resolve tested, her strength tested, her judgment tested… Basically, whatever traits she possessed, Octavian had tested them – and most strongly her patience. Leo had come at the perfect time to see her snap. Reyna hoped that hadn't freaked him out too badly, but she doubted it. He'd been too chatty on the eagles to have been nervous.

"Reyna!" Dan, the headwaiter, smiled. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon! Did you knock some sense into Octavian after all?" She'd picked _Cenare_ to start because the people there were mostly on her side. She figured she'd start Leo off with something easy.

"Not exactly, Dan," she said. "Two hot chocolates please."

"For who –? Reyna, who is this? I haven't seen him in camp before…"

Leo took that as an entrance. "That's because I'm not Roman," he said, reaching forward to shake Dan's hand. "I'm Leo. It's nice to meet you."

The waiter recoiled. "_Leo Valdez?_ Reyna, why… He shouldn't be here!"

Reyna opened her mouth to explain, but Leo didn't give her a chance. "Look, sir," he said, "I know I screwed up big time. But believe me, I didn't want to. Gaea sent these spirits called _eidolons_ on our ship to destroy any hope of peace between us." Leo smiled ruefully. "I… This is kind of embarrassing, actually, but one of the spirits possessed me, and that was why I fired on Rome. I want peace just as much as I'm sure you do. That's why I'm here now."

Reyna broke in. "It's true. We were about to march on Camp Half-Blood when Leo came to meet us. Nico – you remember Nico, don't you? – has some sort of power that lets him travel through the shadows, and he brought Leo to New York all the way from the Mare Nostrum. Leo is here to stand trial for his crimes and for all of the grievances Rome has against Greece. He's willing to bear the full consequences of whatever punishment we see fit to give."

Dan raised his eyebrows and looked between the two of them. The customers in the shop also stared. Reyna figured it did sound a little incredible, especially since most of them had grown up hearing about the evil _graeci_. Actually, that did explain why Reyna had been more accepting of Leo than the others. She'd spent her childhood on an island spa, not in Rome. Sure, she'd undergone a bit of the anti-_graecus_ brainwashing, but not as intensively as some. Reyna only hoped that Leo could manage to get rid of that brainwashing tomorrow.

Finally, a stooped old woman sipping coffee stood up and walked up to Leo, getting close to his face. Leo didn't blink. "Hello, ma'am," he said politely. "You should be careful with that coffee. You're about to spill it." The woman's hand was shaking – whether with nervousness or anger or plain old age, Reyna didn't know. Leo gently took the cup from her and helped her to sit down. Then he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am. What's your name?"

"Doris," she said. Her voice was stronger than her body. Reyna figured that most of the ancient legionnaires living in New Rome were the same way. "But you may call me Centurion Talbot."

Leo grinned. "That's quite an accomplishment, Ms. Centurion. I don't think I'll ever be able to get that high in Rome's ranks."

A man in the back chuckled. Then his date smiled too. Reyna could hardly believe it. Maybe Leo really _did_ have a chance. "I don't expect all of you to like me," Leo was saying now, addressing everyone. "I've been told I can get a little annoying."

Reyna snorted and muttered, "That's an understatement." Doris and Dan laughed.

"Anyways," Leo said, with a pointed look at Reyna, "I'm not expecting you to become every Greek's best friend. I mean, none of you are _mine_. I don't even know most of your names, Centurion Talbot, Dan, and Reyna being the obvious exceptions. Fortunately, I don't need to be all of your best friends. I just want – I _need_ you all to understand this: I'm here for the sake of _both_ camps. Yes, I came to stop the legion from fighting Camp Half-Blood, but I've realized that I'm here for a reason far more important than that. I don't have much time here because I've got to make my rounds before nine-thirty, but I want to leave you with this message. It _is_ possible for Romans and Greeks to become friends." He grinned at Reyna. "Even though she might not want to admit it, Reyna is tolerating me now. And it's _Reyna_. Being tolerable to _her_ is the equivalent of being a friend to anyone else." He got more laughs. Reyna wanted to protest, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to ruin whatever Leo was going to say.

"Before I ever got here, the giants attacked Rome. I'd like to remind you of that. Percy defended this place with his life, and he's Greek. The legion elected him praetor for a reason. He is fiercely protective of this camp." Leo smiled ruefully. "I think he was angrier than Frank _or_ Hazel when he'd found out that I had been the one firing on Rome – even if I _was_ possessed at the time. We want peace as much as you do. We've already defeated some giants alone. If Rome and Greece can work together, we could stop Gaea herself!"

To Reyna's surprise, about half of the café started clapping. Leo was _good_.

Then, of course, someone had to ruin it. A man whose hair was just beginning to gray stood up and knocked his chair to the ground. The clatter immediately gained the café's attention. "I can't _believe_ you!" he shouted. "I thought Romans were universally sensible people. Apparently, I was wrong. This… This… This _graecus_ waltzes in here and gets you on his side with a few funny _words_? There was a time when I believed Rome delivered justice with swift precision. Now I'm afraid you people are trying to _stop_ justice from being delivered to the scheming Greeks! Where in Mars's name is your _sanity_?"

Doris stood up and tottered to the man. "I think a better question is, Where's _yours_?" The man spluttered, but Doris knocked him into his chair with her cane. Reyna had to stop herself from cheering. "Oh, shut up, Junior. You've had your say. It's my turn." Reyna heard a snort coming from Leo's direction. She glared at him to keep him from talking. Reyna wanted to know what Doris would do next.

"This boy has twice as much backbone as you ever will," Doris was saying, gesturing at Leo with her cane. "He's come halfway around the world in the name of peace, Junior! Don't you have any sort of admiration for that kind of dedication? You say you believe Rome should deliver justice? Well, that is why we have trials, and that is why Leo will face his tomorrow. I think it's very proactive of him to try to make his case ahead of time. He has a tough job ahead of him, Junior, but Leo isn't backing down. You say you believe in justice? I believe in that too. I also believe that Rome respects strength, integrity, bravery, and fairness. Leo has demonstrated all of those qualities tonight. Tomorrow, I will not vote to end this pointless Greco-Roman rivalry because Leo said a few funny words. I will vote because Leo has shown me that he is willing to do whatever it takes to end this civil war and unite us in the name of the gods! I will vote because it is the only way to defeat the literal mother of all evils! I will vote so that Rome and Greece may destroy Gaea – together!"

When everyone was sure she had finished speaking, the room _erupted_ in cheers. Doris blushed and bowed slightly. Leo came running up to her with a huge grin on his face. He shook her hand. "Thank you, Ms. Centurion," he said. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your standing up for me."

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Valdez," she told him. A smile of her own was visible. "I'll speak to a few of my friends about recruiting some more votes. We old folk will make a difference in this city yet."

Leo was practically bouncing in place. "Thank you again…"

"Yes, yes, yes," Doris said impatiently. "Now get on out of here! You have a lot of buildings to visit tonight!" Doris nodded at Reyna. "Make sure they let him in. He has some important things to say."

Reyna smiled grimly. "Whether everyone likes it or not, I am still their praetor. No one can refuse me entry if I ask for it. Tonight, I will make sure that all of Rome hears Leo's story."

"Fantastic," Leo said. "Now let's go!"

* * *

Two hours and several miles later, Reyna had kept her promise. They had entered each and every public place in New Rome. Obviously, Leo had been received better in some buildings than others – one owner had been so enthusiastic about Leo's speech that he gave him a free steak, while several others waved swords and chased them into the street (hey, that was how it worked in New Rome). Reyna and Leo probably could've fought them off, but Leo had agreed that he didn't want to start any trouble that Octavian could bring against him tomorrow.

Now Reyna was leaning against a wall while Leo sank to the ground and put his hands over his face. They had just escaped a particularly vicious waiter, and Leo's shoulders were shaking. It was hard to tell whether he was laughing or crying in the dim light, but since it was _Leo_, Reyna figured it was probably the former.

Leo confirmed her suspicions when he started talking. "Threatened… with _dogs,"_ he gasped between chuckles. "I've faced _mile-long_ _sea monsters_… Did he think _dogs_ would scare me?"

Reyna shrugged. "_My_ dogs scare you."

"Not _anymore_," Leo insisted. "Besides, they're machines. Automatons are a heck of a lot more dangerous than their living counterparts – at least most of the time."

"My dogs aren't dangerous."

"Not to _you_, maybe. But you're _Reyna_."

Reyna decided not to argue. "Anyway… You did some good work tonight. Ready to go to bed?"

Leo shook his head and jumped to his feet. "No way. If anything, I'm _more_ awake than before. I'm ADHD, Rey. There's no chance I could get to sleep this early."

Reyna thought that maybe it wasn't ADHD that was keeping Leo up – it was nerves. But she stayed silent as she followed Leo, who had decided that running up and down streets at random was a great way to release his energy. Everyone dealt with anxiety differently. Who was Reyna to get in the way of his coping mechanisms?

Finally, Reyna caught his arm as Leo turned to go the other way again. "Slow down, Valdez," she said. "You need to stop, think, and formulate a plan for tomorrow."

Leo frowned. "I hate plans. They always go wrong. And as I once told Hazel, I try not to think. It interferes with being nuts." He moved to go – as if Reyna would take _that_ for an answer.

"Be rational, Valdez!" she protested.

"Uh… No. No way. I can't be rational," Leo told her. "Because when I start slowing down – when I start trying to be rational – I remember that I'm a crazy idiot who's probably going to die tomorrow and then I start feeling like I'm going to throw up and then I know that there's no way I'm going to be able to stand up and speak in front of a hostile crowd of your people… But if I just keep moving, I can leave the thinking part behind." He paused. "I guess that's why I ran from so many foster homes. Trust me, I'm not going to run from this. But I _am_ going to try not to agonize over it too much before I go insane… Well, _more_ insane than I already am."

Reyna shook her head. "Okay… But let's walk, not run, okay? You need to have at least _some_ energy left tomorrow."

Leo grinned. "Oh, don't worry about that, Rey. There are a few things I have plenty of. Sanity's obviously not one of them, but energy is. Just be glad I haven't had any caffeine today."

Reyna forced herself not to look amused. "I'll be sure never to leave you anywhere near a soda machine then."

Leo looked at her and sighed. "Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Every time I try to get you to smile, you just get more serious! Are my jokes _that_ bad?"

Reyna looked at him in surprise. "Do I really do that?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. It's not that you aren't _funny_. I'm just trying really hard not to laugh."

"_What?_ Why would you do _that_?"

She shrugged. "I'm a praetor. We're supposed to be serious."

Leo snorted. "I know you're a praetor, Praetor. That doesn't mean you have to stop being _human_! People laugh, Reyna. It's _normal_. People might be less scared of you if you stopped trying so hard. You honestly don't have to. You might not realize this, but you have everyone's respect already. You really don't need to keep working for it."

"Really? How do you know that?"

He smiled. "Remember when we were flying here and I was talking to everyone? Well, I wasn't just trying to get votes for my life. I was finding out more about _you_, Miss Elusive. And guess what I discovered? Everyone admires your courage to do what's right, even when things aren't usually done that way. Another secret? You're not as bad a speaker as you think. The legionnaires think you can be powerful and moving when you want to be – and especially when you're just being yourself. You're a great leader the way you are, Reyna. I promise."

Reyna was silent for a while. "I… I never thought of it that way."

"I thought you might say that. That's why I'm here." Leo shoved his hands into his pockets. "So… promise you'll try to act more normal?"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "All right."

Leo grinned. "Great! Does that mean you'll laugh at my jokes now?"

When Reyna heard that, she couldn't help herself. She started laughing. Leo grinned wider. "I'm going to take that as a yes."

"Don't get cocky, Valdez," Reyna warned him. "Just because I laughed once or twice doesn't mean it'll become a regular occurrence." _Even if I do think almost everything you say is hilarious._

Leo just smiled some more. "You know I'm taking that as a personal challenge, right?"

"Oh, the gods help us all."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, we could use some divine intervention at the trial tomorrow. Maybe Zeus/Jupiter could send a lightning bolt down on Octavian… Or Artemis/Diana could come in with her Hunters – you need to meet them sometime, Rey, you guys would get along swimmingly – and shoot him up like a porcupine… Sorry, am I being too violent?"

"Please, by all means, keep going."

But Leo had already jumped onto another topic. That boy wasn't kidding when he said he was ADHD. "Hey, so will I get some new clothes for tomorrow? I'd rather not have to speak in front of a billion people in a shirt I've been wearing for three days."

"I'm sure I can figure something out," Reyna told him. "I doubt the legion will be happy with you using the baths, but I'll get you into a shower somehow." She smirked. "Trust me. You need one."

She'd been trying to get him mad, but Leo just shrugged. "It's probably true. But if _I'm_ dirty, I can't imagine how _Percy and Annabeth_ must feel right now."

Reyna tilted her head. "That reminds me… Earlier, when you were rambling about your various screw-ups…" She stared at him. "I couldn't have heard this right. But… did you mention… _Tartarus_?"

Leo looked at the ground sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I didn't explain that, did I? Whoops. Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind, in case you haven't noticed. Well…" He launched into the story of Annabeth's solo quest and of what had happened in Rome in general. Reyna listened with incredulous attention while he described Jason and Percy's battle with Ephialtes and Otis, which finally ended when Bacchus had decided he had been amused enough and killed them once and for all. Her mouth hung open when Leo mentioned the Athena Parthenos. And she had to sit down when Leo finished with, "And Hazel told us later that Arachne had pulled on a rope of spider silk around Annabeth's ankle and dragged her off the side. Percy grabbed onto her, but he couldn't hold them up for long. He had just enough time to get Nico to promise to lead us to the House of Hades before… before he had to let go of the ledge. He'd decided to fall with Annabeth, rather than let her fall alone. Nico and Hazel have promised us that they aren't dead, but we haven't heard from them in a week. At least, we hadn't heard from them in a week when I'd left. Now, though, I don't know what's going on. I'm thinking… Reyna? Rey, are you all right?"

She was leaning against the wall with one hand over her closed eyes. Her mom had warned her about sacrifices, and when Reyna had seen Leo climbing up the hill, she'd assumed he'd been the one Bellona had meant. But this… _Why, Mom?_ She wanted to scream. _Why do we have to give _everything_ to save a world that doesn't appreciate us? What's the point?_

"I… I'm fine," she got out eventually. "But gods of Olympus, Leo! Were you ever planning on telling me?"

Reyna felt Leo crouch down next to her. "Look at me, Reyna," he said. She did. "I was going to tell you, I promise. But then those storm spirits came and mobbed us while we were flying here and I got distracted trying to help, and it totally slipped my mind. I thought I'd already mentioned it, I guess. And also… Well, I wasn't looking forward to it all that much anyways because I didn't want to worry people more than they already were. I didn't tell people at Camp Half-Blood for the same reason. Gods, if they knew that their two leaders were in _Tartarus_… I was afraid they would lose hope. I was afraid you would lose hope. And I didn't want that." He shrugged. "In times like these, hope is about all we've got left."

Slowly, Reyna nodded. "I get that. But Leo, you _have_ to tell everyone tomorrow at the trial."

"What? I just told you why I _didn't_ want to do that!"

"Well, yeah, but don't you understand? Leo, this is the proof people need to hear to convince them that you Greeks are on our side. If they hear that Annabeth risked her life to get that statue… If they hear that she's with Percy right now, stuck in Tartarus because they're trying to save the world… Gods, Leo! We could stop the invasion for good! We could save your life!"

It was hard to tell in the dark, but Reyna thought Leo might've turned red just then. "Why do you care about what happens to me, Rey? I'm just a lowly mechanic, and a Greek at that."

She shook her head. "Who said I cared about _you_? I just don't want Rome to make a stupid mistake that could be prevented." When Reyna saw the horrified look on Leo's face, she couldn't help laughing.

He glared at her. "So first you insult me, and now you _laugh_ at me?"

"I'm _kidding_, Leo! You know, it's that thing friends do?"

The confused look on his face slowly slipped off, replaced by a grin. "So I've progressed from idiot _graecus_ to barely tolerable to _friend_ now?"

Reyna couldn't help but smile. "I guess it's your lucky day. Don't get a big head about it."

Leo shook his head in amazement. "Wow. If I can become _your_ friend in _three days_, maybe there _is_ hope for me tomorrow."

Reyna rolled her eyes at him. She hoped he couldn't tell what she was thinking. _Watch it, Reyna. Keep your heart closed off. You can't start to like a guy that's about to go on trial! Where's your famous rationality? What happened to your locked safe?_

Reyna snuck a glance at Leo, who was still grinning, and sighed. Her rationality must have disappeared along with whatever had been left of Leo's – because somehow, over the last three days, Reyna had lost her mind and given Leo the key and combination to her closed-off heart.


	6. Part VI

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! (Although I did notice that MANY more people read than reviewed... Come on, guys, is it really THAT hard to write one to three words about a story? Or even just a :) or :( face? :P) **

**Seriously though, you all rock. I can't believe how many reviews/favorites/follows I've gotten... :D**

**Some of you may be wondering if the story is almost over - after all, aren't they already in New Rome? Isn't his trial... _today_? But I assure you, the story is far from complete! Mwahahahaha! Um... Anyways...**

**Dedication: To all of my wonderful Guest reviewers, including (but not limited to) Gabsters and the various Anonymous reviews which may or may not be written by the same person each time. :) I promise that I read and love your reviews too, even though I can't respond to you personally. :D**

**And now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not seem to own any PJO characters. Yet. :P**

* * *

**Leo**

If Leo hadn't been able to eat breakfast, he'd probably be throwing up all over his new clothes right now.

He was standing just behind the senate house, grabbing his hair and pressing his forehead against the stone wall. His new clothes included a purple shirt, which half made him feel like a betrayer of his camp and half made him hope that the Romans would take it as a peace offering.

"Leo?" he heard behind him. With a start, he whirled around, thanking every god – Greek and Roman – he could think of when he realized it was just Reyna.

He let go of his hair and fell to his knees, clutching at his chest in mock horror. "Styx, Rey! Next time, give me a little warning before you give me a heart attack, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Leo, stop messing around. I've got to go in beforehand, and I've got to find a couple of guards to escort you in nicely when I give the word, and the senate meeting starts in half an hour, which means I need to go in about three minutes. And I can only go when I know that you'll be there when I call you in."

"Oh. Is that all it is?" Leo stood up and went back to pressing his forehead against the wall. "I'll be there. Consider three minutes of your time saved."

"Leo, you've been standing there for too long. There are _indentations_ in your forehead," Reyna informed him. Leo realized suddenly that she'd moved to stand close to him. His heart thumped twice, hard, before he calmed himself down. _Quit it, Valdez. Other people have hurt her enough already._ "It's not that I don't trust you…"

Leo smiled weakly. "It's just that you don't trust me."

It took him longer than two beats to calm his heart when Reyna touched his shoulder. He mentally yelled at himself to stop again before tuning in to what Reyna was saying. "Look at me, Valdez." He got the feeling she'd said it more than once.

Reluctantly, he turned, and Reyna let go and stepped back. "I'm never going to get the _chance_ to trust you if you don't step up and absolutely kill it today. In the state you're in right now? I don't think you could even walk to the senate house doors without collapsing."

"Stop worrying, Rey. I can do this." The problem was, Leo knew he wasn't the most reliable guy. His fugitive history proved that. The last thing Leo wanted was to let Reyna down – but he was afraid that was _exactly_ what he was going to do.

"Of course you can. But I'm going to drag you to the door anyway," Reyna told him, "just to be sure."

In all actuality, Reyna only dragged him about halfway around to the door. She said she didn't want him in plain sight until it was time to start. "You're going to stay here until the guards come, right? And you're going to rehearse your speech one more time, and make sure it's perfect, and…"

"Rey," Leo said, "I'm pretty sure your three minutes are up."

Reyna sighed and smoothed her hair, even though it was perfect already. "Okay. Okay, I'm going. You're not going to screw up. I… I trust you not to screw up." Reyna whispered like that was meant for only her ears, but Leo heard it anyway. He tried not to let surprise show on his face. Reyna trusted him? Sure, she'd added the "not screwing up" part in there, but… She trusted him with _anything_? How had Leo managed to pull that off?

"I'm going." Reyna was saying it again when Leo tuned in. "Just… If you need a reminder of why you have to do this… Remember that it's not _only_ for your friends on the _Argo II_, and all of your camp in New York. It's…" She coughed. "Uh, it's also for me."

Leo tried for an easy grin, but for once in his life, he was pretty sure it failed him. "And why would that change things?"

Reyna shrugged and wouldn't quite look at him when she said, "Well? Does it?"

Leo swallowed hard. "Now you're _really_ going to be late, Rey." He tried for another smile, successfully this time. "Give me one hellhound of an opening statement, okay? I'll do the rest."

Reyna nodded. "I can do that." And then she was gone.

Leo turned to rest his forehead against the wall again, but he stopped himself and stood up straight instead. Reyna was right. He _did_ have to do this for her. And, of course, for his friends and for all of Camp Half-Blood. There was no way Leo could do that if he was too nervous to look at anything beyond the gray stones of the wall. One way or another, Leo's fate – and the fate of his camp – would be decided in a couple of hours. The fate itself was up to him to decide.

* * *

**Reyna**

"And that is why I implore you to listen carefully to what Leo Valdez has to say to you," Reyna finished, addressing the entire crowd (minus Octavian, who was beyond reason). "Then make your decisions based on facts, not the grudges that have been handed down for millennia. Thank you. Leo Valdez will now have his say."

The silence that had filled the room when Reyna began had terrified her. Public speaking had never been her strong point, and now – with so much on the line – Reyna was sure she would keel over and faint any moment. But somehow she kept it together. And now she had marched through her entire speech – and it had been a hellhound of an opening statement, as per Leo's request – and survived, and it was time for Leo to try and work his Valdez charm. Only… Only that deafening silence was back. No Valdez was rocketing into the room to spout a few of his funny/lame jokes and start winning his case. Where in Mars's name _was_ he?

Reyna's heart started thumping erratically. She had _trusted_ him to come in and do the right thing and _not run away_... She clenched her hands in her praetor's robes and gulped down terror. Would _every_ guy Reyna had trusted let her down? Was she destined to pick _all_ the wrong people?

_No,_ a part of her said. _Leo wouldn't do that. He had promised to come in when it was time. He wouldn't break a promise._

Strangely, the thought didn't comfort her. If Leo hadn't run away, then... then something had to have gone wrong. _Oh, gods_. Her vision started tunneling towards the Forum doors, and she willed Leo to come bursting in. He _had_ to be okay. He _had_ to be.

All this ran through her head in less than two seconds. Then Octavian stood up triumphantly, and she forced herself to turn and pay attention to him. "It is apparent that the prisoner has decided not to plead his case," he announced to the crowd, smirking. "That means it is time to vote. The options are as follows–"

"Wait!" Gwen rose, and Reyna felt intensely grateful to one of her closest friends. She couldn't try to defend Leo herself – she was in hot water as it was – but everyone loved _Gwen_. Or… Reyna glared at Octavian, remembering a war game, a dying Gwen, and a spear that had clearly belonged to a member of the First Cohort. _Nearly_ everyone loved Gwen, anyways.

"Wait?" Octavian was practically foaming at the mouth. "_Wait?_ The rules are clear – It is time to vote–"

Gwen somehow managed to look innocent to everyone else while staring the augur down ferociously. "The rules do say that in the absence of a defendant, the trial shall proceed directly to voting," she agreed. "That is… Unless the defendant is physically _unable_ to attend the trial."

"Why would he be unable to attend?" Octavian spluttered. "He was fine just this morning! We _will_ go straight to voting!"

"No, Octavian." A short girl named Martha in the Fourth Cohort, whom Reyna had never once talked to directly, piped up fast. Leo must have been thorough, reaching each and every one of Reyna's legionnaires. Reyna squashed down her admiration at his persistence. She didn't need _another_ feeling to add to the hopelessly tangled mess that was her heart.

"That's not fair. A number of things could have happened that would prevent him from attending. Before we jump to conclusions, we should go and look for him. Then we can be sure…"

Suddenly, there was a crash from the front of the room. Everyone turned in unison – so everyone saw when Ryan, one of Leo's guards, stumbled in, covered in mud and smoking. He'd pushed open the door with just a little too much force, sending it banging into the wall. "Hello, all," he said weakly, leaning against said wall. "Did you know that Earthborn can get into the city if Gaea sends them straight up through the ground? Yeah, I didn't either. You might want to go outside. The others look worse than I do."

The entire crowd surged to their feet in one motion. "Stop!" Reyna shouted. "I will not have thousands of people causing havoc by trying to get outside. Centurions of Cohorts One, Three, and Five will come with me to see what Ryan is talking about." Reyna didn't trust Octavian to be in here without her supervision. "Centurions of Cohorts Two and Four will keep order in here. I will report our findings shortly, everyone. There's no need to rush out the doors yourselves." And with that, Reyna stepped down from her platform, closely followed by five centurions (they hadn't replaced Frank yet). Even Octavian came along without too much fuss. He wanted to see what had happened as much as everyone else did.

On her way out, Reyna passed by Ryan. "Where is Valdez, Ryan?" she said, trying to sound professional.

He just shook his head. "I… I'm not entirely sure. You should go out and see for yourself."

Reyna wanted to strangle him for being so vague, but she restrained herself. It would be bad form in front of all of Rome. Instead, she said, "Do you need anything? Ambrosia? Nectar? A medic?"

"Thank you, Reyna, but I'll be fine. Just, uh, give me a couple minutes."

Reyna nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem. We need to find out exactly what happened first." _We need to find out why you're alone, not accompanied by Leo and Bea_. "Take all the minutes you need." And she pushed her way through the doors.

* * *

It looked like a giant dog had rolled in an ocean of mud and then shook the sludge off. There was gunk on every imaginable surface within a mile radius of the senate house. Mud splattered the building itself, peppered the grass and paths, and dotted a few of the closest New Rome stores. But none of those surfaces could compare to the legionnaire propped against the wall. She was absolutely _drenched_ in the stuff.

Todd, a Third Cohort centurion, ran over to the legacy of Ceres. Her name was Bea, pronounced like the striped insect, and she was fierce despite (or maybe because of) her ancestor's reputation as a "lame" goddess. She was a member of Todd's cohort, his cousin, and his best friend. "Gods, Bea, what happened?" he muttered, crouching next to her.

She muttered something Reyna could barely make out. "Earthborn… Leo saved us…" Then Bea's eyes opened suddenly, like she'd just understood what was going on, and she gripped Todd's arm. "Todd! You shouldn't be out here! They'll get you too!"

Todd clasped her hand. "It's okay, Bea. The monsters are gone."

She shook her head. "No, you don't get it. Gaea can send them through the earth… More could arrive at any minute! She's getting more powerful, Todd."

He nodded. "I know, Bea, I know. Let's get you to the infirmary, okay?" He looked over at Nicole, the other centurion of the Third Cohort. "Help?"

Nicole looked over at Reyna. She nodded. "She needs attention, Nicole. Of course you may bring her to the infirmary. However, I'm not sure that anyone will be in there, with the trial and everything. Go inside first and call for the most experienced medic. Bring him or her out here. Then all of you may go to the infirmary." Nicole ran inside, and Reyna paused and looked around, realizing that Octavian, Dakota, and Pria (the other First Cohort centurion – slightly more tolerable than her partner) had been doing the same for the past few minutes. "Where…"

Dakota looked at her grimly. "… is Leo? We were wondering the same thing, Reyna."

"Praetor," Octavian said smoothly, "perhaps you should–" But Reyna was already at Bea's side.

"Bea…? Bea, what happened to Leo?"

With obvious difficulty, Bea forced her eyes open. "Valdez? He's fine. When he torched the Earthborn, the explosion knocked all of us backwards and splattered mud everywhere. But he had to do it, Reyna. We were going to be overwhelmed. Please don't get mad at him."

Reyna almost wanted to laugh. She was _worried_ about Leo. He was _missing_. Leo wasn't even on her _list_ of things she had thought to be mad at. Octavian and Gaea were tied for first, of course, and the _eidolon_ that had possessed Leo ran a close second. Blackbeard and Circe were third and fourth, and – Actually, that was a lie. She hadn't put _Jason_ on the list yet. She hadn't decided if he was tied with Blackbeard, just above him, or tied with the _eidolon_, or…

Reyna shook her head to clear it. "Okay, Bea. I won't. But if Leo's fine, then where is he?"

Bea looked around. "I…" Her eyes narrowed as she thought. "I rammed into the wall – that's when I blacked out. The only thing I remember after that… Leo and Ryan were still fighting… something…" She put her hands to her head. "Ugh – I don't remember anything else."

Todd touched her arm. "It's okay, Bea. Don't worry about it. Just rest."

Bea nodded, then winced, as if the motion hurt. She closed her eyes, and a moment later, she was asleep.

Todd looked anxious. "She'll be fine," Reyna told him, trying to be encouraging. "She needs to recover, but she'll be fine. She might have a concussion, but that should be the extent of her injuries."

Todd nodded and tried to smile. It turned out more like a grimace. "It sounds like Valdez saved Bea's life, Reyna. I don't think I can ever repay him for that."

Reyna shrugged. "After you get Bea to the infirmary, you can start by helping us find him. Then… Well, he came here in the name of peace, Todd. Vote for that, and you can consider it even."

Todd nodded again. "You're right. The old empire fell two thousand years ago. It's not right that we have kept the same grudges for that long."

Reyna stood up and looked at her three centurions. "Organize a search party," she ordered. "Leo is officially Missing In Action. We need to find him."

"But Praetor, the trial–"

"Octavian, we cannot hold a trial without a defendant."

Reyna stared Octavian down so viciously that he didn't even argue. He went inside after Dakota, and Pria followed. Reyna brought up the rear, but not to help organize the search party. If they were ever going to find Leo, she would need more information about what had happened. And only one person was in a position to divulge that sort of intelligence. Ryan's minutes were up.

* * *

**Don't hate me? I told you the story was far from complete... :P**


	7. Part VII

**_77 reviews?!_ You guys are _amazing_!**

**Anyway, I figured I couldn't keep you waiting any longer for this chapter... So here it is, and enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to have these for every chapter? Fine... I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Leo**

Leo knew that waking up shackled to a pillar of earth was never a good thing, especially not when one was currently fighting the _goddess_ of the earth. So when Leo opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by angry monsters (including some mud ones that Leo figured were relatives of the Earthborn he had lit on fire), he seriously considered squealing like a toddler. But he realized that if by some miracle his Roman – could they be called friends? – rescued him and found out that he had lost his dignity like that, he would never live it down. Also, he would never show weakness in front of an enemy – they taught you not to do that in How to Face Death Like a Hero, a class that Camp Half-Blood had created after it realized it was in for another massive war. (That class didn't actually exist, but Leo had learned a lot about its subject matter from listening to the stories of camp legends like Beckendorf, Michael Yew, and Silena Beauregard.) Instead, Leo glared at the nearest ugly creature. With a little willpower, he felt his tool belt grow suddenly heavier. He had a screwdriver, a couple of pins, and a wrench in there now. The screwdriver and pins were for escaping his cuffs, and the wrench was for bashing in monster skulls. Now all Leo needed was for the monsters to exit stage left so he could figure out a way to get to the tools. All of the red eyes were throwing him off a little. And the aching gash in his shoulder and the piercing migraine didn't help much.

"Hey, guys," Leo began, hoping his voice wasn't as shaky as he felt. "So, I heard there's this great human hot dog stand down the hall–"

_Hello, Leo Valdez_. Leo twisted around and found Dirt Face's features peeking out of the pillar above him. He swore that Gaea spent her free time discovering new ways to be creepy. _Are you enjoying your stay with us so far?_

She laughed. Leo had heard that Poseidon was the god of earthquakes, but from her rumbling cackles that echoed around the cavern, Leo decided that Gaea had been in charge of those long before the Titans had even been born. The older the gods (or goddesses), the more their powers could take Leo by surprise. The ancient myths were so conflicted – or so Annabeth told him – that sometimes even the basic job of a deity was in question. It made Leo wonder if Gaea was hiding any secret weapons. That bugged him – she could keep billions of things hidden under her surface, but as long as Leo was standing on the ground, Gaea could potentially read his thoughts.

As soon as Leo realized this, he carefully wiped his mind blank. Even if she killed him, Leo would never do anything to give his friends away. He wasn't sure if he even _had_ information that could make the rest of the seven fail, but if he did, Leo didn't want Gaea to know about it.

_And what did you think of your time with the Romans? _Gaea was still talking, enjoying her moment of triumph. _They are a lovely war-hungry bunch, are they not? I'm sure you found Reyna especially… enjoyable._

_Don't turn red,_ Leo thought furiously. _Don't show her anything that could be considered a weakness._ "Oh, the Romans are great," he told her pleasantly. "They were holding a trial to decide whether or not to kill me before you captured me instead, but they're great. Actually, I guess I should be thanking you. I get awful stage fright."

_Indeed._ Gaea sounded amused. _Well, Leo Valdez, you may still have to worry about stage fright. You see, if I do not capture Perseus and Annabeth soon, I will have to find suitable substitutes. And you would be sacrificed on the greatest of all stages – on the steps of the Parthenon, for the whole world to see! _She paused, then stretched her earthy lips into a smile that showed dirt teeth. With her eyes still closed, the effect was terrifying. But Leo had a feeling that it would be more horrible if Gaea's eyes were open. _I wouldn't worry about that too much, though, if I were you. Even now, those two are walking into one of the hundreds of traps I have set for them all over Tartarus. I could have just snatched them up as soon as they fell into my lap, of course, but where would the fun in that be? After all, there are still three weeks before my glorious day arrives. I have more than enough time._

"More than enough," Leo repeated, gulping. "So… if you don't need me for that, why am I here?"

_I have my reasons,_ she said softly.

Leo didn't like the way this conversation was going – it was a little too morbid for his tastes. So he changed the subject. "You know I have friends, right?"

She smiled again. Mother Nature was getting creepier all the time. _I am aware that you have that opinion._

Leo decided to ignore that Gaea had just insinuated that his friends weren't really his friends. "Well, these friends know I went missing after fighting your Earthborn," he told her. "They'll come looking for me."

_You mean your Roman allies? I _want_ them to look for you, Leo Valdez,_ she told him. _In fact, I want them to _find _you – or at least to find the army that guards you. You see, any Romans that would search for you are Romans that believe in joining forces with you Greeks. And I'd prefer it if the two camps destroyed each other instead. It's much more poetic that way. If the Romans do manage to come down here, death is all that awaits them. Then no one will be able to prevent Octavian from leading Camp Jupiter back to New York to destroy your new home._

Oh, gods. This was Gaea's plan all along? She was _glad_ that Leo became friends with so many Romans? Of course she was. The more people that died coming to find Leo, the less she would have to worry about fighting when the time came. Leo broke out in a cold sweat. Oh, gods. If any Roman died looking for him, the rest would never trust a Greek again. If any Roman died looking for him, everything Leo had done for the last week would be useless. Nothing would keep Octavian from claiming revenge once and for all. But those were the least of Leo's problems. If any Roman died looking for him… Well, that meant a person had died trying to help _Leo_! He wasn't worth the blood that would be on his hands if Camp Jupiter walked into Gaea's trap. And if anyone hurt Reyna… No. Leo refused to think about it. He'd figure something out. No monster would even _look_ at a Roman because of Leo.

"All right, Gaea," he yelled suddenly. "You win! Just… just leave me alone so I can wallow in self-pity!"

Gaea laughed, amused yet again. _While you stand on or in this earth, Leo Valdez, you will never be left truly alone. But I will disappear for a time, if you'd prefer that. Enjoy your bleak contemplation of your friends' deaths! _And her face melted into the pillar.

Leo wanted to turn and chuck a fireball at the spot where she'd been, but he thought that might attract the wrong kind of attention. After he'd escaped his chains and had a nice big wrench in his hand, he could get that kind of satisfaction. But only then. First, Leo had some work to do.

* * *

**Nico**

It had taken a while for the shock of Nyssa's message to wear off – about two days, in fact. But after the others had figured out that it wasn't a practical joke, they whirled on Nico. "What were you _thinking_?" Piper demanded while they were eating dinner. "How could you let Leo _do_ that?"

"You were Pluto's ambassador!" Hazel said indignantly. "You know what Octavian can be like!"

Nico wanted to curl up into a ball and hide, but he managed to control himself. "I'm not his _babysitter_, guys. There was nothing I could do."

Frank shrugged. "Not to judge you or anything, but you could have done plenty of things to stop him. Dragged him kicking and screaming into a shadow, knocked him out with the hilt of your sword, talked some sense into him…"

Nico threw his hands into the air. "Leo's mind was made up! _Nyssa_ couldn't even convince him not to go, and she's known him for a heck of a lot longer than a week!"

"But did you try very hard?" Hazel asked softly. "Did you remind him how the rest of us would feel if he died?"

Nico shook his head. "Leo was just trying to defend his home – _our_ home, in fact. And Camp Jupiter too. You all know what would happen if a Greco-Roman war started up again. Leo was trying to prevent that!"

"Will you _stop_ talking about him in the past tense?" Piper said angrily. "He's not dead yet!"

That's when a face popped up on the screen yet _again_. But it wasn't Nyssa. Stranger still, it was Reyna.

Jason was facing her directly. When she appeared, he was about to take a bite of his burger. At the sight of her, his hands froze and his mouth stayed locked open.

"That's a very attractive expression, Grace," Reyna said, but Nico was surprised when the comment wasn't particularly biting. Even if Jason was oblivious, everyone else knew how betrayed Reyna felt by him.

Frank swallowed hastily and moved to unpin the centurion badge from his shirt. "Why are you calling, Reyna? Did you replace the centurion and need my badge, or-?"

"No, no, you're still the Fifth Cohort's other centurion," Reyna said distractedly. She turned her head around and shouted at someone out of view. "Any progress?"

"None, Praetor!" a guy yelled back.

She cursed under her breath. "Expand the perimeter! And if you find _anything_ – a scrap of clothing, a scorched patch of grass, _anything_, inform me immediately!" She looked back at them. "Sorry about that."

"Come to think of it," Hazel said, "forget _why_ you're calling. _How_ do you know how to send an Iris-message?"

Reyna waved her hand distractedly. "Percy taught me. Now, this is very important. Is Leo on your ship?"

They looked at each other, eyes widening. "No," Hazel said. "Why? Is he in trouble with you guys?"

She shook her head. "Has he tried to contact you in any way?"

"No." Nico was surprised that he had spoken up this time. "What's going on, Reyna?"

There was a pause as Reyna scrutinized them. "It's nothing you need to worry about," she said finally.

"That's a load of Styx, and you know it," Piper, of all people, said. Nico stared. Reyna scared the daughter of Aphrodite, more than she scared anyone. If Piper was worried enough to talk to her directly… Nico started to get a hard feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What's happened to Leo?"

"We believe," Reyna said slowly, "that Leo has been captured by Gaea. If you know any information that could lead us to him, that would be extremely helpful."

Nico's insides felt like they had balled themselves up into a squishy mass and dropped into his toes. When he looked around at the others, he saw that the way he felt was written all over their faces as well. But only Nico fully understood just what implications "captured by Gaea" could mean. As Nico processed it more and more, his insides lifted out of his feet and separated themselves from his body entirely. If they were still connected to him, Nico would've thrown up. In his current state, he simply turned sea foam green and dropped his fork.

"Gae – Gaea?" Piper choked out. "Are you sure?"

Reyna looked down. "It's very likely. He was being escorted to the senate house for his trial when he was attacked by Earthborn, along with his guards. Leo was able to use fire to destroy the monsters, but one of his guards was highly injured while the other was slightly injured. I don't know what the extent of Leo's injuries was. In any case, they were then attacked by something else, and Leo was taken. The details are still fuzzy, but…" She looked up. "Well, I'll let you know that Leo actually had a very good chance of preventing a war. He'd convinced a lot of people to listen to what he was saying. I think Gaea took him in hopes that we'd resume our march on Camp Half-Blood. But I've convinced Octavian that it's unfair to forgo the trial because of extenuating circumstances."

"Who in all of Olympus cares about extenuating circumstances?" Hazel said. "Where is he?"

Reyna threw her hands in the air. "How am I supposed to know? That's _why_ I called you guys! You're _sure_ he's not with you?"

"Yes!" Even Frank was getting exasperated. "Gods, Reyna, how many times are you going to ask us that?"

She shook her head. "Sorry. I was just… Well, I was almost hoping he'd given up or something. At least then we'd know he was alive."

"Reyna?" Hazel's voice had gone very soft. "Why… I mean, why do you care?"

She shrugged. "He's one of the seven. Juno chose you guys for a reason. If Leo is the only one that really knows how that warship of yours works, it seems like he's pretty important to the success of, well, everything. You guys _need_ him, and if he's in danger… Actually, I'm surprised you even let him come _here_. We Romans can be pretty dangerous if we want to be." She flashed them a grim smile that was the first Reyna-ish thing Nico had seen from her in all the time she'd been on the wall.

"Trust me," Hazel muttered, "we _didn't_ agree to let him go there." She looked at Nico accusingly. _Not my fault!_ he mouthed.

"Okay," Reyna said, like her mind was a thousand miles away already. "Well, if you do get any news that could help us–"

Nico heard a crash, and then Coach Hedge was yelling, "Hold on, you demigod daisies!" and the _Argo II_ was plummeting at an alarming rate.

Jason had finally put his burger down when it rocketed across the table and smashed into the wall. Everyone else's food slid to the floor. Frank's head banged against the back of his chair, and his eyes unfocused. Emeralds gathered around Hazel's shoes and joined the cascade of random items flying about the room. Katoptris flew out of its sheath and almost stabbed Nico in the eye before Piper lunged over and grabbed it.

"Reyna," Nico said, finally finding his voice, "we're going to have to call you back."

The praetor was watching the scene with a strange, distant expression on her face. "Okay. Be careful." But her words were empty – not as if she hated them all, but more like she had almost forgotten they were there. Nico wondered what had happened to her. Then the ship tipped sideways, and he forgot her completely.

* * *

**Leo**

Leo's plan was ridiculously complicated and required a large amount of precisely timed explosions. Luckily, he was good at precisely timed explosions. Also, Leo'd had ridiculously complicated plans before, so he wasn't too worried. He was a big fan of improvisation.

When the dull Cyclops standing guard in the cavern looked mostly alert, Leo put on his "I'm-concerned-for-your-well-being" face. "Tell me, O Mighty One-Eyed Monster, how much is Gaea paying you? In other words, what is the salary of a mindless goon in today's market?"

He stared at him blankly. "No," Leo said in mock surprise. "Don't tell me you're doing this _gratis_? Pro bono? For zip, zero, nada, goose eggs? Dude, you could do _so_ much better. Gaea doesn't deserve you."

The Cyclops kept up the vacant expression. Leo figured he hadn't gotten one of the brighter ones. "You aren't supposed to talk." He said it flatly, like it was rehearsed.

"Oh, come off it," Leo said with what he hoped was a charismatic smile. "Old Dirt Face is trying to keep you dependent on her! She wants to be the queen of the hive! Don't let her, man! Show that bee who the workers _really_ are!" That hadn't even made total sense to _Leo_, and it made even less to the Cyclops. He had hoped things would go that way.

"You… I'm going to talk to the other guards now," he said hesitantly. "Don't move."

Leo laughed. "Where would I go, dude?" He jingled his chained wrists and nodded his head toward the links around his waist as proof. Satisfied, the Cyclops turned and disappeared through the cave door. Leo knew he only had moments before more monsters returned to try and figure out what in Hades Leo meant. He twisted his hands around so they pointed upwards and sent out a blast of blue welding flame through his fingertips. Although Leo couldn't _see_ the fire, exactly, he was able to direct it towards the chains binding him to the tree. After an anxious, curse-filled minute, the first metal link broke in two. With that weakness, Leo was able to wriggle until his chains dropped to the floor with a clanging thud. Cursing more, knowing the noise would tell monsters that something was up, Leo grabbed onto the back of his tool belt and twisted it around until its magical pockets faced behind him. Then it was relatively simple to grab a couple of pins out of the pockets and pick the lock on his cuffs. They dropped with another clatter, and Leo had just enough time to stuff the length of chain into his pockets and run behind the pillar before the monsters came in.

"He was chained!" His idiotic Cyclops guard was the one speaking.

Leo knew he only had a minute before Gaea would notice the disturbance and find him. Keeping his hands in his tool belt pockets to muffle the noise, Leo started working.

"Did you loosen his bonds because he asked you nicely?" a nasty, smarter-sounding monster answered. "You _buffoon_!"

"He was _chained_!" the guard repeated dumbly.

"Gaea will have our skulls!" the other snapped. "And it will be all _your_ fault!" Leo could hear the beginnings of a scuffle break out on the other side of the pillar. It was time to put his plan into action.

He pulled something small and bronze out of his belt and set it on the floor. The centaur galloped into the open, screaming "Die!" in a microscopic, tinny voice. Leo poked his head out for a second and saw the monsters' flabbergasted expressions trained on the automaton. He had to stifle a laugh and quickly hid himself again.

"What _is_ this contraption?" the smart monster complained. "And why does this have to happen on a _Thursday_, of all days? Thursdays are the _worst_!"

"It's a centaur," a different monster said. "I _hate_ centaurs."

"Die! Die! Die!"

"That's enough out of you! You are the size of a wasp, centaur!" He heard the thumps of heavy feet as the monsters trudged towards the automaton.

"Die!" Leo reached into a smaller pocket; his fingers immediately brushed a sleek object with a touch screen. He tapped Morse code into the remote.

"Die! _Now_!" The new word made Leo grin – the centaur had received the message. Not daring to peek out at the monsters, he imagined the bronze invention drawing an arrow and firing it into the ranks of Gaea's minions. Three, two, one…

A cloud of smoke and unidentifiable bits flew around the pillar. Dirt clods smashed into Leo's shoulder and head, making him wince, but he still smiled. Explosion Number One had worked perfectly. Pausing only to scoop his centaur friend off the floor, Leo ignored his throbbing skull and sprinted out of the dirt chamber.


	8. Part VIII

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* * *

**Reyna**

When the Iris message popped up in front of Reyna's face while she was combing through New Rome, looking for clues, she expected Nico or Hazel to be checking in with her. So when she saw Leo, grinning up at her with white teeth that shone through the dust on his face, she swore in pure surprise.

He laughed. "Not the response I was hoping to get from you, Lady Praetor."

Reyna found her voice. "I can't believe you're all right! Where are you? What's happened?"

"That's more like it." But he wasn't smiling anymore.

"Leo, is Gaea holding you captive? If you know anything about where you are, we can go after you and—"

"_No_," Leo said firmly. "You can't. Gaea _wants_ you guys to come. She has a huge force of monsters in here. If you show up…" He gulped. "It won't be pretty."

"You can't expect me to give up on a friend because of a little _danger_," Reyna said incredulously. "Leo. My life _is_ danger."

"Yeah, maybe," he admitted. "But think about it: What will happen if just _one_ Roman dies down here?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Octavian will use it as an excuse to attack Half-Blood once and for all, that's what, and we'll never get the truce we need. I'm not worth that."

Without her consent, the _Argo II's_ dining room appeared in Reyna's mind, full of flying emeralds and daggers and burgers. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Leo had hesitated to tell her about Percy and Annabeth because it would break her concentration. Now she would withhold information herself – because if Leo got distracted worrying about his flight crew, the result would be worse than a loss of focus. He could die. So all Reyna said was, "Your ship_ needs_ you, Leo. More than you know. You're worth plenty."

Leo waved his hand. "Fine. Maybe. But I'm not worth _that_."

She sighed, knowing they weren't getting anywhere. "Okay. What do you suggest I do, then?"

He shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm not the leader here. I just wanted to let you know I was still alive so you didn't kidnap another Greek to take my place."

"Oh, ha ha," she said. "Very funny." That was when an explosion rocked the ground Leo was standing on, shaking the Iris-message and hurting Reyna's eyes. Through the dust clouding the picture, she saw him get knocked in the head with a piece of debris. He staggered and almost fell.

"Leo! Are you all right?"

He rubbed his skull and managed to retain his footing. "I'm fantastic," he told her. It was the worst lie Reyna had ever heard. Now that she looked closer, she could see that Leo's hair was clumped together in places – almost like it was matted with blood. Besides that, his shoulder looked dislocated.

"No, you're not," she said matter-of-factly. "You're just going to get yourself killed. We're coming to get you."

"You _can't_!" he said forcefully. "It's too dangerous. And anyways, I don't know where I am. Listen, Reyna, I have a plan, and it's going great. I'll be out of here before you know it. Please don't try to go off and rescue me. I'll IM you as soon as I can. See you in a bit."

Before Reyna could argue, another explosion shook the picture. This time, a bit of shrapnel shot through the mist, and Leo was gone.

* * *

**Nico**

Nico woke up to the smell of smoke and an incredibly dry throat. He coughed. Almost immediately, Hazel's face appeared in his vision. "Nico! You're all right! I was worried… Your teeth were chattering… And you were so _blue_…"

"Even paler than normal," Nico heard Frank say from somewhere beyond his limited eyesight. For a second, Nico didn't think anything of it. And then he smelled the smoke again. Frank – fire – _firewood_ –

"Frank!" Before he thought it through, Nico was sitting up and looking for his friend frantically. Then the sudden movement caught up to him, and he lost a couple seconds while his vision tunneled to black and cleared again. "Frank, are you okay? What are you doing here? You could get hurt, and—"

"What are you talking about?"

Nico finally saw Frank. He looked perfectly comfortable, but Nico didn't register that right away. "Why are you so close to that fire?" he practically yelled. "That's so dangerous! You could get burned! Your firewood…"

Frank shook his head. "I'll be careful. Besides, under the circumstances, we don't really have a choice."

"But… I have to keep all of you guys safe… I promised Percy…" Nico fell silent as he realized what Frank meant. In the quiet, Nico could almost hear the sizzling as sparks from the campfire drifted into the snow surrounding them.

"Where are we?" he asked in astonishment. "It's _July_…"

Hazel got up and added a stick to the blaze. "I don't know how it happened…" she told Nico eventually. "We were in the middle of the Mediterranean. But there's only one place I can think of where there's this much snow year-round. Nico, welcome to the Alps."

"Gods of Olympus…" he muttered. "How did we… I mean, the last thing I remember is the giant flying snake, and then…"

Frank nodded. "We're drawing a blank there too. But whatever attacked us, it was powerful enough to push us even farther back than Rome – and crash the _Argo II_ to boot." For the first time, Nico noticed the scenery just beyond the campfire. Festus's head was peeking out over the ridge that Frank, Hazel, and he were sitting on. The rest of the ship had evidently careened into a ravine.

Nico cursed. "How are we going to get back on course? There's no way in Hades that we can pull that ship out ourselves – and I've lived half my life in Hades. I would know."

Hazel shook her head, eyes glistening. "We have no idea, Nico. But have you realized what else is missing?"

Nico was halfway on his feet, preparing to go and check out the fallen ship, but at Hazel's words, he fell back into a bank of snow in shock. His clothes were already soaking wet from lying snow-angel-style in the stuff. The snow that collapsed into the back of Nico's T-shirt really didn't brighten his situation. "I… I assumed that they were out to get supplies or something," he stammered. "Are you trying to tell me that Piper and Jason and Coach Hedge…?"

His friends stared gloomily into the campfire. Nico thought Frank looked a little bit more nervous about his stick of wood than he was letting on. "Yeah," the guy said after a pause. "We're stuck on a snow-covered mountain, forced to use fire to stay warm. Added to that, the only guy who could possibly repair the _Argo II_ is most likely captured by Gaea. Oh, and to top it off nicely, half of our remaining crew is also missing. You'd think we'd be able to see their tracks in this snow, but there's nothing." With a sudden shout that made both Hazel and Nico jump, Frank hurled a fistful of snow into the flames, making them hiss and crackle. For a moment, Nico was certain that a loose spark would land on Frank, and then it would all be over. Then the moment passed, and Nico let out a sigh of relief. Not only was he glad that Frank was okay, but Percy was already mad enough that Nico hadn't told him about Camp Half-Blood when he'd first crossed the Little Tiber. Nico didn't want to know what the son of Poseidon would do if he came back from Tartarus and found out that Frank had died on Nico's watch.

Hazel placed a hand on Frank's arm, which seemed to calm him down. "Frank… it's okay," she whispered. "We'll find them. I'm sure they're fine."

Frank didn't seem comforted. "Percy and Annabeth are already in Tartarus," he sighed. "Leo's already in hot water with our camp. Now Jason, Piper, and Coach could be in just as much trouble! What will it take before the gods realize that we're dedicated to this? That we'll risk _everything_ to protect our homes? When will the gods finally stop hiding and come out to _help_ us?"

Nico snorted derisively. "They know we're dedicated," he told Frank. "But they're not about to help us while we're floundering. If we want some divine assistance, we're going to have to get ourselves out of this mess first."

Frank continued to glower into the fire. "Well, we'd better get out of it fast, then," he muttered. "Because it's only a matter of time before something really bad happens."

Just then, all three demigods heard a deep-throated growl rumbling from somewhere close by. "You just _had_ to go and jinx us, didn't you?" Hazel squeaked.

Frank stood up abruptly, shaking off Hazel's hand. "I didn't jinx us," he told her. "That's just a regular mountain lion. I'll deal with it." He morphed into a mountain lion himself and bounded out of sight. Hazel rose as if to follow him, but then she only shook her head and went to sit next to Nico.

"I've never seen Frank like this," she said softly.

Nico shrugged. "He's just worried about our friends."

Hazel nodded. "We all are. I just wish he would display his feelings less… _violently_. It's terrifying enough having a fire this close to us." She sighed. "I'd make us move to the _Argo II_ if I didn't think it would be impossible to get inside it when it's tilted at that kind of angle."

Nico almost laughed. "We really managed to get ourselves into a bad situation, didn't we?"

Hazel cracked a slight smile at that. "We're demigods, Nico. Our life is _full_ of bad situations."

Suddenly, a feline howl echoed into the night. Hazel's eyes widened. Her hand unconsciously went to her _spatha_. "Was that the regular mountain lion, or…?"

Nico crouched and then fully rose, giving his vision time to settle in between positions. "Let's not wait to find out," he suggested. Hazel ran off, not bothering to reply. Gripping his own sword securely, Nico followed her.

* * *

**Leo**

Although it couldn't have been more than a day (he wasn't hungry enough yet), Leo felt like it had been weeks since he'd seen sunlight. Wearily, he crouched behind a jagged rock and held his breath as a _dracaena_ slithered past, wielding her trident fiercely. "Leo Valdezzz," she hissed. "Where are you, ssssson of Hephaesssstussss? I ssssmell you."

_Yeah, that's what you think_, Leo grinned to himself. _It took seven _months_ for us to fly across the country in my grand-spanking warship, snake-lady. You think the _Argo II_ was the only thing I worked on during all that time? Yeah, right. I would've gone _insane_ – well, more insane than I already am. _

"What issss thisssss?" the _dracaena_ exclaimed from around the corner. "I ssssmelled _you_, Valdezzzzz. Not thissss pile of ragssss covered in your ssssweat and machine greasssse."

Leo ran out from his hiding place and bonked the monster on the head with a wrench. "That's not machine grease," he informed her as she slowly faded into gold dust. "That is Purified, Extra-Potent Artificial Demigod Stench. Of course, it was almost impossible to make, so I only had a tiny vial of that stuff, and it's all going to evaporate in about five seconds… But I have the recipe written down somewhere. Lady, you don't even want to _know_ how I had to guess-and-check that particular formula." Leo considered continuing to ramble at the _dracaena_ that had dissipated into particles by now. But he had lots more work to do, so he just stuffed his "pile of rags" back into his tool belt and hurried on. Hey, he _thought_ that the Purified, Extra-Potent Artificial Demigod Stench had completely evaporated, but he couldn't be sure. And no way was Leo going to let a trap _goldmine_ like that go to waste in a random corridor in the middle of the earth.

"You're almost there," he told himself. He actually had no idea if that was true, but he decided to lie to himself rather than admit that he was hopelessly lost. "Just around the corner." He turned down the next hall. "Okay, maybe three corners."

_Leo Valdez._ The voice stopped him in his tracks, and he cursed. Gaea had noticed him. _What, did you think I wouldn't? All those explosions were a tad bit _obvious_, don't you think?_ _Come on, Leo Valdez. You don't honestly think you can get out of here, do you? If you surrender now, you will be… _punished_ for your disobedience – but you won't be killed. Continue to run, and I cannot promise that._

"Say what you want, Dirt Face," Leo shouted, although his good hand (the one not attached to his dislocated shoulder) was starting to shake. "I'm not coming quietly."

A sigh seemed to ripple down the corridors he'd come from. _Very well, Valdez. Your death will be painful._

"I don't think so," he muttered. For a second, Leo wished that he had one of the others with him. Hazel would be great to have at his side, with her tunnel-sensing powers. Annabeth could be coming up with some genius escape plan that would actually work. Piper could be sweet-talking Gaea into letting them go free. Even Frank could have shape-shifted into _something_ helpful. And Percy and Jason were great fighters; they'd be coming in handy right now, since Leo could hear an army of monsters thundering down the tunnels towards him.

Then Leo remembered what Reyna had told him. _You're worth plenty._ He wasn't getting any backup, but maybe he didn't need it. He was Leo-freaking-Valdez, after all.

The first monsters rounded the corner, and Leo stood like one of those guys in a kung-fu movie, stretching his arm out and beckoning the monsters towards him. "Bring it on, suckers," he said, grinning maniacally. "Prepare to get _burned_." Before Leo could lose his nerve, he brought his other arm over his head, ignoring his shoulder's scream of protest, and thrust it towards the creatures. The monsters that weren't fire-resistant got torched to smithereens. All the rest were taken by surprise when Leo jumped on top of them with a flaming hammer in his good hand and a flaming wrench in his bad one.

_You are a fool, Leo Valdez,_ Gaea told him. _A hopelessly outnumbered fool._

"Maybe," Leo said out loud. "But when has that ever stopped me?" And he sent another torrent of fire down the hallway.

"Take that, fools!" he grinned. "You should've known better than to mess with a son of Hephaestus—"

That was when he felt something metal slide into his leg, and an _empousa_ smiled at him, her sword glistening with Leo's blood. He killed her instantly, but the damage had already been done. Leo stumbled and fell, adding the injury to his long list. Another monster got him in his bad shoulder. Before he could help it, Leo yelled in agony and frustration.

Gaea's laugh echoed through his aching brain._ You have failed, Leo Valdez. These tunnels lead straight into Camp Jupiter. This army will catch the Romans by surprise, and I will ensure that the survivors are not those friendly towards Greeks. They will find evidence that will prove that you led these monsters to them, and they will declare war on Camp Half-Blood once and for all. After today, all chance of a Greco-Roman alliance will be destroyed. Both camps will kill each other, and their blood will run into my soil and strengthen me – all because you were not strong enough to stop this attack, Valdez. _

"I. Don't. Think. So." Leo ground out. Everything hurt, but he ignored the pain and struggled to his feet. He would _not_ lose in this gods-forsaken underground maze. He would _not_ let his Roman friends die. He was Leo-freaking-Valdez, and he would prevent this senseless civil war if it killed him.

Leo shot off a third burst of flames to buy himself time while he tried to come up with a plan. When a Cyclops came at him, Leo dodged to the side – and that was when he saw it. The tunnel was made out of dirt and bits of rock – not very flammable. But the wooden support beams…

He considered the dangers for a split-second. If he brought down the tunnel, it would collapse on _everything_ – not just the monsters. He could die. In fact, he probably would die. Was he prepared to do that? Leo hesitated.

But then a monster banged him in the base of his skull with a club, and that seemed to knock some sense back into Leo. _In the condition you're in, Valdez, you're most likely going to die anyway_, he reasoned with himself. _At least this way, you'll die saving the people you care about._ Leo remembered hearing something Frank had said about duty and sacrifice. At first it had seemed stupid to Leo – why give yourself up to die _willingly_? But now he thought it made sense. His friends back at Camp Half-Blood needed him to stop the feud between Greeks and Romans. Reyna and his new West Coast friends needed him to stop the same feud. If these monsters got to the surface, many people would die in the battle – and a thousand more would die in the civil war between camps that would follow. Leo had let countless people down in his lifetime. He wasn't about to let his friends down now.

"I'm not afraid of you, Gaea," he told her. Leo reached deep inside himself. _Give 'em everything you've got, Valdez,_ he thought. Then he concentrated, summoned more fire than he'd ever used in his life, and sent it towards the wooden beams around him. The action took the rest of Leo's energy. The last thing he remembered was shouting, "For Camp!" For which camp, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe both.

* * *

**Reyna**

Reyna was discussing their next steps with all of the Cohorts' centurions when the cobblestones under their feet started heating up. "What in Mars's name—?" Dakota peered at the ground. "Is the floor giving off smoke, or did I just have too much Kool-Aid?"

Chase, the Fourth Cohort centurion, socked his friend in the shoulder. "You're _always_ having too much Kool-Aid, Dakota—" he started. Then his eyes widened as he glanced down. "—but the floor is giving off smoke too."

For a minute, they all stared at the cobblestones. Then Reyna regained her senses. "This can't be good," she stated. "We should evacuate this area, just in case, and make sure that all the New Rome residents are out of harm's way—" Then the world collapsed.

When Reyna could see past the settling dust, she found herself lying sideways on a pile of burning-hot cobblestone shards. "Centurions!" she coughed. "Report!"

Each of them shouted back, one by one. They had all survived – even Octavian (unfortunately). "What happened?" Nicole asked.

Reyna looked around. The world hadn't actually collapsed, just the road they were standing on and a few of the surrounding buildings. By some stroke of luck, the worst-off structure – it had been completely demolished – was one of the few abandoned shops in New Rome. Reyna thanked the gods when she saw people climbing out of the rubble. No one seemed seriously injured.

"It was the Greeks!" Octavian said shrilly. "They tried to kill this camp's leaders! We have to retaliate! We have to—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Octavian," Reyna grumbled, pulling herself to her feet. She had a couple of scratches, but they were nothing a quick swig of nectar wouldn't fix. She stumbled across the rubble, looking for the epicenter of the mini-earthquake.

"Over here, Reyna!" Todd was crouching above a hole in the ground, looking down worriedly. He turned when she kneeled down next to him. "Look at this," he said quietly. Reyna looked. At first it didn't register, and then she understood the meaning of the scorch marks, just before Todd continued. "It's Valdez. He's the only one who can use fire like that."

"But…" she whispered. "That doesn't make sense. He wouldn't… He's on _our_ side! He wouldn't do this to Rome…" Reyna _wanted_ to believe in Leo - she really did - but the evidence was stacking against him. Her heart started to panic. Had she made the wrong choice after all? Trusted the wrong boy _again_? Had Leo betrayed her? Had he collapsed this ancient tunnel system to try and cripple Rome? Was he really a spy for the Greeks like Octavian had said?

Then she saw that Todd was shaking his head. "I don't think he was attacking _us_, Reyna. Look closer." He pointed at the floor and walls of the tunnel, and Reyna started noticing something strange. A glittering gold dust coated every possible surface. Was it—just maybe—?

Her theory was confirmed when she saw monster-sized swords and other spoils of war dotting the ground. Her heart calmed, and she chided herself for ever doubting the son of Hephaestus. Ever since he had climbed Half-Blood Hill, he had done nothing but try to unite both camps. She should have believed in him from the beginning. Leo had earned her trust a long time ago.

"He... _saved_ us," she said. "Gaea was sending another army after us, and we had no idea. There was no warning – not when they came from underground. Leo saved all our lives."

Todd nodded. "We should tell the others. We'll get everyone to understand this, and then we'll _make_ Octavian see sense. He won't be able to deny the facts. Once everyone sees what a Greek did for us, we might be able to convince people to set aside their grudges."

Part of Reyna listened, but her thoughts were still whirling. Leo had collapsed the tunnels to protect Rome – Leo had been in the tunnels that he had collapsed – Leo…

The realization slammed into her with the force of Alcyoneus ramming into Frank-the-elephant. "Oh, gods!" she said suddenly. "Leo's still in there!"


	9. Part IX

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* * *

**Nico**

It was the next day, and they were scouring the area for clues of their friends' whereabouts. As it turned out, the scream _had_ been the other mountain lion. Frank was perfectly fine.

"There's nothing," Frank growled, kicking a rock in frustration. "We've been all over this clearing five times, looking for clues. There's nothing."

"There _has_ to be something," Hazel insisted, coming over to lay a hand on Frank's shoulder. "We'll find them somehow, Frank. We will. I'm sure of it." She turned to Nico for support. "Won't we?"

Nico opened his mouth to comment - but then he got a splitting pain in the back of his head and cried out. "Nico!" Hazel grabbed him just before he fell. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She set him down while Frank hovered anxiously overhead.

"It's Leo," he told her. "Leo... He's..." He couldn't seem to get the words out.

Hazel's eyes widened. "Leo _what_, Nico?" she whispered. When he didn't speak, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him, almost... _hysterically_. He'd never seen Hazel this worried before, not even when Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. "What _about_ Leo, Nico? What's happened? _Tell us_!"

The pain sharpened to a knife-like throb, and Nico grabbed his head, begging the ache to recede. _This _can't_ be right,_ he thought. _It _can't_ be. I don't believe it._

But deep down, he did. His son-of-Hades instincts were never wrong about something like this. Still clutching his hair, Nico looked up at Hazel. The light in his eyes was broken.

"The thing is... Well, you see... Leo... He's..." Nico had to _force_ the truth out of his mouth. Its bitterness left a sharp aftertaste on his tongue. "Hazel, Leo is _dying_."

* * *

**Reyna**

Once the legionnaires heard about what Leo had done, they were more than happy to dig through the rubble to try and find him. Everyone pitched in, regardless of rank. Reyna sifted through rocks next to a skilled legacy of Apollo named Brady. She was glad that she had five cohorts' worth of willing rescuers. They had already been working for an hour without much success. If she had had to look for Leo on her own… "Come on, Valdez," she muttered. "Don't give up on me. We _will_ find you."

"Reyna!" Martha and Nicole were the ones calling her name now. Several people had needed her over the last hour, but this was different. They sounded… _different_. Reyna closed her eyes and counted to three, preparing for what she might find. Then she opened her eyes and ran off, pulling Brady along behind her. Leo would almost certainly need immediate medical attention.

There was no way to tell who Martha and Nicole had found – all that was sticking out of the rubble was one calf, covered in a tattered and scorched pair of jeans. But as far as Reyna knew, only one demigod had been in that tunnel crawling with Gaea's minions. She sucked in a breath.

"Why haven't you gotten him out already?" she demanded.

Martha shook her head mutely. Nicole had to explain. "The only thing between Leo and a load of rocks is a _really_ fragile wooden beam. It's been burned almost to shreds. We're afraid that if we try to shift anything, the weight change will destroy the support, and a ton of debris will come crashing down on him."

Reyna cursed. "There has to be _something_ we can do," she insisted. "We have to. He saved us." Reyna didn't doubt that if the situation were reversed, Leo could have used his mechanically wired brain to come up with a solution. But Reyna doubted that she had a drop of Vulcan blood in her. Spatial thinking was _not_ her strong suit.

Just then, a boy ran up to her. He couldn't have been more than ten years old, and Reyna remembered seeing him following Bobby around in the Fifth Cohort adoringly. His name was Alexander. "While we were traveling to Rome, my sword got bent fighting a monster," he told her. "Leo fixed it. I want to help him."

Reyna appreciated the sentiment, but there wasn't much she could see him doing. Legion training hadn't quite caught up to him yet, so he was still on the scrawny side. "That's very nice of you, Alexander," she told him, "but I don't think you could—"

Alexander shook his head vigorously. "No, Reyna, I have an idea. Look. We could slide a couple more beams under there – sturdier ones – and then you guys could pull the rocks off of him without worrying about collapsing the whole structure."

Reyna considered it, and then sighed. "It's a good idea, Alexander, but there's no space. Leo's almost completely closed in."

The kid refused to give up. "He can't stay in there, Reyna. He must be running out of air by now. If Leo's going to have a chance, we have to try."

Nicole put a hand on his shoulder. "Alexander, _there's no room_," she told him gently. "We can't _fit_ a board in there."

He paused, thinking. "Car jacks!" he said triumphantly.

Reyna tilted her head. "What do you mean, Alexander?"

"We slide car jacks under the ends of the beam and crank them up until there's enough space to slide new supports in."

Reyna hesitated. "That's awfully risky, Alexander. We don't know just how fragile the beam is. Strain like that could break it in half."

"Please, Reyna," he said desperately. "It's only a couple of inches. I'm sure it will work. It _has_ to. What else can we do?"

Reyna looked up at the sky and rubbed at her temples. _Hey, there,_ she thought. _Vulcan, Hephaestus – whoever. Leo is your son. He must be making you proud, and you have to know that he's in danger now. This mechanics idea – it's right up your alley. Please… His crew needs him on the _Argo II_, and his friends need him back at Camp Half-Blood, and… Well, I'd miss him too. Please make this work._

"All right, Alexander," she said finally. "We'll try it."

* * *

**Leo**

His mom's workshop was on fire all over again; only this time, Leo was the one inside. The fire itself didn't bother him, but the smoke was choking his lungs, and he could almost _see_ the structure of the building weakening. It was only a matter of time before the whole thing fell on him.

Leo turned his head and was astonished to see his mom looking at him.

"_Mamà_…" he whispered. "_Te extrano_."

She just smiled at him sadly. "_Mamà_, why won't you say anything?" he asked, eyes smarting. "_Mamà_, am I coming to join you? Are you happy in Elysium? Will I make it there too?"

Esperanza Valdez didn't say anything, but her eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, Leo realized that his mom's fingers were tapping out a pattern. Morse code. He watched and listened closely. Two dots. A dot and a dash, then two dashes. Three dots, then three dashes. Dot dash dash dot, dot dash dot, three dashes, two dots and a dash, a dash and two dots. Three dashes, dot dot dash dot. Dash dot dash dash, three dashes, and two dots and a dash.

.. /.- - /... - /.-. .-. - ..- -.. /- ..-. /-.- - ..-

Leo started getting a little teary-eyed himself. He had to listen to the message three times, just to make sure he'd gotten it right. "Do you mean that, _Mamà_?" he asked.

She tapped out another message.

- ..-. / -.-. - ..- .-. ... . / .. / -.. - / .. / .-.. - ...- . / -.- - ..-

"I love you too, _Mamà,_" he promised. Suddenly, a shelf of the workshop fell down, catching Leo across the shoulders. He fell face first, head banging against a counter. It hurt more than Leo thought it should, like his head was already injured. Besides that, he must have fallen on something sharp. It was poking into his ribs. He cried out in pain. "I think I am coming to you now," he muttered. "How harsh are the Underworld judges?"

She shook her head and finally spoke. "You cannot die yet, _mijo_. Your friends are counting on you. The _Argo II_ has crashed, and you are the only one that can fix it. Stay strong, _mijo_." Her eyes softened. "I miss you too. I will see you again someday, but not someday soon. At least, I hope not." She blew a kiss through the air and started to fade into flames. "May the Fates be kind to you."

And she was gone.

A section of ceiling fell on Leo's bad shoulder – actually, it was his _worse_ shoulder. Every part of him was "bad" by now. His eyes burned from smoke and unshed tears, and his head throbbed. His mom had said that he would be okay, but Leo didn't feel okay. He felt like death. But he tried to be strong, for his friends' sakes. If the _Argo II_ really had crashed, they could have been hurt in the fall. Leo had been unreliable his entire life, but he wasn't going to be this time. He had to get back to them. He had to help them. According to his mom, he was the only one who could.

Something pulled on his leg, trying to drag him out from under the shelf and ceiling tile. It hurt like Hades. Leo moaned - crying out in pain would have taken too much work. His vision started fading. _Stay strong_. More of the workshop collapsed around him. A hammer slid off the counter and bonked Leo on the head. _Stay strong_. Leo didn't even know pain this bad existed. _Stay strong._

_Mom, I hope you didn't suffer this much_, he thought. The fire burned out, but it was too late. The building was crumbling around him. His mom's voice rang in his ears._ I will see you again someday._ _Stay strong. _

_I will be strong,_ he promised his mom. _I will make sure you are always proud of me._ Then the workshop fell for good, burying Leo inside.

* * *

Leo gasped. His eyes fluttered open. He wasn't in the workshop after all. He was lying on his back in New Rome. But the pain he'd felt in his dream – that was real. Every imaginable bit of Leo's body ached, and a few parts burned. That was okay, though. Because he'd somehow made it out of those tunnels alive, and that was more of a miracle than Leo had expected.

Reyna was standing over him. She looked close to tears, but that couldn't be right. Reyna was the strongest person Leo knew. She didn't _do_ crying.

"Leo! You're alive! For a second there, you stopped breathing, and I – and _we_ thought…" She trailed off.

"All right, everyone, give him space!" The guy talking was a kid named Brady. Leo had seen him patch up his fair share of legionnaires on the cross-country trip, and he was a good medic. But Leo wasn't sure if _any_ medic was good enough to patch _him_ up. He was feeling pretty broken right now. "Gods, Leo, you're in rough shape," Brady told him. "Fractured ribs, dislocated shoulder, severe concussion, stab wound in the leg, bruises and scratches everywhere…"

"Yeah... tell me... something... I don't know," Leo croaked. "It's... 'kay. Injuries... side effect... of being totally... awesome." He looked at Reyna. "What... happened?"

She still looked a little in shock. "You, um, were trapped under a mountain of rocks, with only one super fragile board keep you from being crushed and suffocated."

"Sounds... fun," he muttered. "How... get out?"

She smiled slightly. "You can thank Alexander. He thought of using car jacks to prop up the beam so that we could replace it with sturdier ones and then slide you out from underneath." Her smile vanished. "We were lucky. We had just gotten you free before the whole thing collapsed. I think a couple of the falling rocks hit you anyway, though. Sorry about that."

Leo would've waved a hand if he could move any part of his body. He settled for grinning at her. That hurt badly enough. "Don'... worry 'bout it... Rey. I made it... that... what matters."

Brady broke in. "I'm going to have to pop your shoulder back into place now, Leo," he said.

Leo's eyes widened. "That... necessary? Sounds... terrible... idea. Maybe... you should... hold off on the whole... popping-into-place... thing... until—" Before he could finish, Brady grabbed his arm and yanked it into place. The pain rocketed up and down Leo's entire body and somehow managed to make the rest of his injuries feel a thousand times worse. He had just enough time to gasp in pain before he passed out.


	10. Part X

**Wow. I just... wow. Two chapters ago we were at 77 reviews, and now we're at _171_?! Gosh, we might even make it to 200 for next chapter! :O **

**Congratulations to my lovely friend fabulouslaughter, who was the lucky 150th reviewer! (Although I kind of think luck didn't have too much to do with that... ;) And thank you to everyone who reviewed!**

**Also DaughterOfHestia and Dee3 asked me to translate the Morse code from last chapter, so here it is:**

**The first line is (or would be, if Doc Manager hadn't magically messed it up when I saved... -_-) "I am so proud of you."**

**The second is (see last parentheses :) "Of course I do. I love you."**

**You might want to look back at Part IX for context... :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Nico**

"Nico, is he okay?" Hazel had been asking him this on and off for the last two hours. Each time, Nico had just shrugged helplessly and told her that nothing had changed much. But this time, something was different. Leo was noticeably worse.

"He's – ow – fading," Nico whispered. "It's – ow – not looking good for him, Hazel. I don't – ow – know what's wrong with him, though."

"Oh, gods," Frank said, pacing. The big guy was freaking out. "This is terrible. I wish we could go help him. We never should have let him leave in the first place. This was such a bad idea. And there's nothing we can do now, and he's just – oh, gods."

"Wait," Hazel said suddenly, dropping to Nico's side. "_Is_ there anything we can do? I mean, the god of the Underworld is our dad. We _have_ to be able to do _something_."

Nico shook his head miserably. "It doesn't work like that, Hazel. You should know that by now." He tilted his head at her. "I wonder why _you_ can't feel this."

She shrugged. "We know the Roman sides of the gods are a little different. Maybe, as a child of Pluto, I don't have… whatever _this_ is… in my system."

"Maybe," he said uncertainly. "But – Oh gods, _oh gods,_ this is _bad_…" It had happened suddenly. He clutched at his skull again, like that would change what he was feeling. "Hazel, he's… Oh my gods… This can't be right…"

Frank stopped pacing all of a sudden and sat down hard next to Hazel. "Is he… Is he…?" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

_Father…_ Nico thought. _You can't let Leo die now! We need him! We can't succeed without him! You have to… Please, Father. Look away. Don't let him die._

Then, to Nico's astonishment, something happened, and Leo started improving. "He's not dead," Nico gasped. "He should be fine. Oh, thank all the gods of Olympus."

Hazel and Frank both released the breath they'd been holding, then both looked at each other like they were surprised they'd been holding their breath. "For a second there," Hazel whispered, "I really thought he was going to…"

"But he's not," Frank said, comforting her as Hazel buried her face in his chest. "Leo will be fine." They spent a minute just sitting there – half shocked and half ecstatic. And of course it was then, when they least expected it, that the dragon attacked.

* * *

**Leo**

He woke up gasping for air, one hand clutched at his ribs. He was stuck in the workshop and it was collapsing around him… But if that was true, then why was he lying in a bed for the first time in what seemed like weeks?

"Leo, you're awake!" Reyna was sitting on the next bed, working on paperwork, but when she heard him, she looked over and smiled. Why was Reyna in the workshop with him? And how could she be using _paper_ when the whole place was on _fire_…? Leo groaned inwardly. He would have done a facepalm, had he felt able to move. He was being dumb. He had had another dream about the workshop. He wasn't there. He was in New Rome – the infirmary, from the looks of things.

Reyna set aside her papers and looked at him hesitantly. "You've been drifting in and out of sleep since yesterday." The way she said the words told Leo that she wasn't spilling the full story, but he didn't push her. After the series of dreams he had had over the last - had it really only been a _day_? - he wouldn't have been surprised if he had been shouting some pretty strange things. Really, it was a good thing that Reyna wasn't planning on mentioning that to him...

Leo tuned back in to what Reyna was saying. "Brady said that there was nothing to worry about - that you were actually recovering surprisingly fast, especially for a demigod whose diet has consisted of ambrosia, nectar, and water - but still..." She paused, and then awkwardly said, "Well, I... I'm glad to see that you're finally awake."

Leo couldn't believe it. Reyna had said something _awkwardly_. She had been at a loss for words. The stone-cold, constantly confident, imperturbable praetor of Rome had actually _stuttered_. Leo wasn't sure what to think about that.

Reyna clearly wanted to move on too. She cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So how do you feel?"

He decided that it was best to be honest. "Like Styx," he admitted. "If the River Styx had a concussion and fractured ribs."

She frowned worriedly. "So, not any better than yesterday?"

"No, I'm better," he told her. "Earlier I felt like the Styx had blown up with me inside it."

Her gaze softened. "Leo… You should know that you saved this camp. An attack with that many monsters, catching us by surprise… It would have been a disaster."

"You know what happened, then?" Leo asked.

She shrugged. "Sort of. We found an army's worth of weapons in the tunnels you destroyed, and we saw scorch marks. But as soon as you're better, I'm sure everyone would love to hear the full story."

"Everyone? So I'm, like, famous now?"

She smiled. "I'm pretty sure you were famous before as the boy that fired on our camp and then came back to apologize… But yeah, you're famous for this too now. If there's one good thing that came out of all this, I think you're going to win the trial hands-down now."

Leo groaned. "I still have to have one of those?"

"Sorry, Leo. But if we don't have one, Octavian will probably complain about how you weaseled your way out of it and then start trying to gain support for an attack against Camp Half-Blood all over again."

Leo nodded, even though the action sent his head throbbing. "That makes sense. Well, we need to have it as soon as possible, then. Like, today."

"Leo! You can't honestly think you're going to stand up in front of all of Rome and give a _speech_ like this! Brady says you need at least a _week_ to rest!"

"No can do, Rey," Leo said.

"Why not?" she asked, exasperated.

He paused. "I'm not entirely sure… But I remember it was something I heard just before I woke up the first time… I have a good reason…" His eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, Styx, how could I have forgotten? Reyna, the _Argo II_ crashed with all my friends inside! I have to get to them right away; they could be stuck inside! They could be hurt! They could—"

Leo started to get up, but his ribs rubbed together in protest and Reyna had to grab his shoulders before he fell forward onto the tile. Her paperwork flew in all directions, but she didn't seem to mind. "Leo," she said, stopping him with a look. "I know."

"You… _what_?"

"I know," she repeated. "I was IM-ing them when it happened. I didn't want to tell you because you were still in Gaea's tunnels, and the slightest mistake could have killed you, so…"

He hesitated, then nodded and grinned ruefully. "That's fair. After all, I got hurt badly enough as it was." He paused again. "Do you know if they're all right?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Leo. The message cut out just before they crashed, so I don't know what happened. But I'm sure they're fine—Leo, what do you think you're doing?"

He had shrugged off her steadying hand and stood up on the other side of the bed, wobbling heavily. "I _have_ to find out if they're all right, Rey. I have to." He dodged her hand and half-ran, half-stumbled to the doorframe, pausing to lean against it and rest his pounding head. "Look, Rey," he said, smirking at her in the most aggravating way he knew. "You can either come with me, or I'll go by myself. It's up to you."

Reyna sighed and went to him, letting him slide an arm over her shoulders and lean on her. Leo tried not to think about how close he was to the praetor or how much his heart was pounding. "You are an idiot, Leo Valdez," she told him. "Let's go."

* * *

They ended up at the baths. When Reyna had first told him where they were going, Leo had freaked out a little. But the baths were actually less like a row of showers and more like a gigantic swimming pool. Reyna told him that in the morning and at night it was packed full of laughing teenagers, but it was pretty empty right now. Hands down, it was one of the coolest places Leo had ever seen.

Reyna helped him sit on a convenient chair. As soon as Leo felt recovered enough to move again, he dragged a drachma out of his pocket – how did he still have one of those? – and flicked it into the steam rising off the pool's hot water. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Nico di Angelo." The mist shimmered and revealed a kid dressed all in black, wrapping a bandage around his arm.

"Nico! Are you guys okay?"

Nico started and turned around. When he saw Leo's face, he grinned – the first smile Leo had ever seen the son of Hades give. "Leo! I can't believe… Hazel! Frank! Leo's over here!"

Almost instantly, two more heads competed in the picture for attention. Leo couldn't believe they were this happy to see him. After all, he was just a lowly mechanic who managed to screw a lot of things up. "Gods, Leo," Frank said, "at one point Nico thought you had… What happened? How'd you escape? Reyna said – oh, hi Reyna – that you had been captured by Gaea…"

"It's a long story," Leo said. "Basically, I'm totally awesome." He shrugged off-handedly, forgetting for a second that his whole body ached. His hand flew to his shoulder.

"Leo…" Hazel frowned, seeming to notice for the first time that he felt like death. "You look awful. How badly are you hurt?"

"He has about thirty thousand injuries," Reyna said.

At the same time, Leo said, "I'm fine."

Hazel glared at him. "You liar."

"Why do you just assume that _I'm_ the one lying?" Leo asked, offended.

Reyna snorted. "Because you are."

"Never mind about that," Leo said quickly, before Hazel could try to stage an intervention over IM. "How are you guys? I heard your ship crashed. Is everyone fine?" His face blanched as Leo realized something. "Where are Jason, Piper, and Coach Hedge? Don't tell me they're…"

"No, Leo, they're all right," Nico promised. "We just, uh… Well, the _Argo II_ was attacked pretty violently. I just remember getting hit in the head with a flying dinner plate – long story – and the next thing I know, I'm lying in the Alps and we, um, have no idea where the others are."

"They're missing in the _Alps_?" Leo yelled.

"Keep your voice down!" A Lares shouted at him from its perch across the pool. "It's bad enough that you're using Greek forms of communication. At least be _decent_ about it!" He shook his head. "Kids these days…"

"Um, anyway," Leo said, changing to a half-whisper, "but isn't that, like, a _really_ long way from the Mediterranean?"

"Yeah, we don't know how it happened," Nico told him, "but it did."

"Gods…" Leo said. "And Jason, Piper, and Coach are missing."

"Yup."

"Gods…" he repeated. It seemed like the best way to sum up the situation. "And there's no way you can get in the _Argo II_? Because I programmed Festus to be able to do a thermal scan… You could probably find them with that…"

"Is there anything you _didn't_ program Festus to do?" Frank muttered.

Hazel shot Frank a look and picked up the conversation. "The ship fell in a ravine," she said apologetically. "It might be salvageable… But we just don't know. That's your thing."

"Styx." He looked at Nico. "What about your arm? Are you okay?" As he spoke, he noticed claw marks going through Frank's shirt and a shorter section of Hazel's hair that looked burned away. "What _happened_ to you guys?"

Frank waved his hand. "There was a dragon. We took care of it. It's no big deal."

Hazel took Frank's elbow and looked at him adoringly. "Yeah, it's no big deal when you have a guy who can turn into a dragon just as menacing as the first one," she grinned. Frank turned red.

There was a time when Leo would've gotten jealous. But now… He snuck a glance at Reyna, whose dark eyes glittered as she stood deep in thought. Now he didn't mind so much. "A _dragon_?" he whistled. "Sounds exciting."

Reyna snorted. "You've had plenty of exciting over the last few days, Leo. I think you'd better learn to share."

"Whatever," Leo said. "Anyway, guys, I have to wrap up my pivotal trial first, but I can go over there in a day or so, most likely. Nico, are you cool to shadow-travel and come get me?"

"Sure, no problem," Nico said. And that would have been that, but then Reyna shook her head.

"I wouldn't be in a rush to get over here, Nico. Brady says Leo will need a week of rest at least."

"I can't _rest_!" Leo insisted. "Reyna, it's almost mid-July. It'll take time to fix the _Argo II_. If we're going to stay on schedule, I have to go, like, _now_."

Hazel stared him down. "Leo Valdez, if you think we're going to let you work yourself to death because you didn't heal first, you're absolutely wrong."

Frank and Nico nodded in assent. "Oh, come _on_, guys," Leo complained. "I'm _fine_. Besides, this isn't just about me. It's about our friends."

Just then, his stomach growled. Leo flushed bright red, and Reyna burst out laughing. Leo turned to glare at her, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends staring in amazement through the IM. He didn't blame them. Hearing the overworked praetor of Rome laugh was a rare occasion. "Leo, you can put on a tough guy act and insist that you're okay," Reyna chuckled, "but you can't deny that you must be starving. It's been _days_ since you ate anything properly."

"Yeah, maybe," Leo admitted. "An all-you-can-eat buffet would be nice right about now." He looked at his friends. "Are you sure you'll be fine without me? Can you get into the _Argo II_ at all? It must be freezing over there."

They glanced at each other. "We can manage for a couple of days," Hazel said finally. "Anyway, you can IM us again when you're ready for Nico to come get you." She grinned. "But make sure you have Reyna with you, so she can confirm that you're _really_ ready. I don't trust your judgment anymore."

"Hey!"

"I'll only let him leave if he's fully healed," Reyna promised. Then she looked straight at Frank, Hazel, and Nico. "Now, Leo's too humble to admit this himself, so I figured I'd better tell you. Yesterday, he stopped a massive attack from Gaea that would have caught our camp totally by surprise. He prevented massive casualties. After that, it's almost certain that we'll win tomorrow. If we _do_ ever manage to form a Greco-Roman alliance, it'll be all thanks to Leo."

Leo turned red again and started to protest, but his friends just smiled. "That doesn't surprise me," Hazel said proudly. She looked at him. "Get some rest, okay?"

"I'll do my best," he said, mostly to get them off his back. "Now can I _please_ go eat?"

Reyna laughed again. "Come on, Fire Boy. Let's get you to lunch."

She hauled him out of his chair and helped him steady himself against its back. He turned to the Iris-message. "Well, bye guys," he said lamely.

They nodded at him, and then Nico swiped his hand through the mist, and they saw the baths again. Immediately, Leo turned to Reyna. "Why did you tell them what Brady said? They obviously need me to go back and fix the ship!"

Reyna shook her head. "Leo, whatever you might think, you're not superhuman. If we let you, you'd work yourself to death. Now, are we going to the dining hall or not?"

He sighed and draped his arm across Reyna's shoulders again. "Fine," he said. "But only because I'm starving."

* * *

**So this is kind of the boring chapter in which nothing happens except that Leo is alive and hungry... Sorry about that. But it's necessary because Leo needed to talk to Frank/Hazel/Nico to learn about their situation and find out what happened to Jason/Piper/Coach Hedge.**

**Next chapter will be more exciting, I promise! The trial will start! :)**

**Any thoughts?**


	11. Part XI

**_200 REVIEWS EXACTLY!_ _WE MADE IT!_:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD You guys are the best! I'm pretty sure that was the most reviews I've ever gotten for one chapter! Thanks so much for all the reviews and all the support! It means a _lot_ to me, I promise. I'm so happy; I'm nearly about to cry... :')**

**Celebratory chapter time! (Although I kind of think a life-or-death trial isn't that much to be excited about... Oh well. :P)**

**Anyway, it's kind of important for you to understand Roman numerals for this chapter, so just in case some of you guys don't know, here's a crash course:**

**I: 1**

**V: 5**

**X: 10**

**L: 50**

**C: 100**

**And if a smaller letter comes before a big letter (i.e. if I comes before V), that means you subtract them. So VI would be 6, but IV would be 4. XI would be 11, but IX would be 9, and so on. Make sense? I hope so, because that was the end of the crash course. :P**

**Also, if you guys like the way I portray Reyna, you might want to check out my Reyna-centric story called _War and Memories_. *shameless self-promotion* You can read it while you wait for updates for this story. ;)**

**That's all! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: My lawyer hasn't found a loophole around the "only Rick Riordan can own the characters of PJO" copyright yet... But she's working diligently! :) (Haha, I wish...)**

* * *

**Leo**

"Sorry about the magical floating chair, guys," Leo announced as he entered the Forum and drifted down the steps. He had decided to keep it casual and put people at ease with his amazing Leo-style humor. "I wish I could stand up and say my bit like a normal person, but I've been forced into using this thing. You see, apparently walking around two days after you almost die in a tunnel collapse is a bad idea. Crazy, right?" He shrugged. "I didn't know either."

He got more laughs than he had expected. Maybe Reyna was right. Maybe his defeat of yet another mini-army _had_ earned the Romans' respect. "Brady also told me that _sitting up_ two days after you almost die in a tunnel collapse is a bad idea as well," Leo added. "So don't any of you go trying that, okay?" He earned a couple more laughs. For a second, Leo allowed himself to grin. Then he sobered up. "But anyway, I didn't really have a choice," he told them. "As soon as this is over, I have to get back to the _Argo II_." He paused. "Or whatever's left of it." The thought of his beloved warship crashing almost brought Leo to tears, but he controlled himself. He'd never get the Romans on his side if _that_ happened.

"What do you mean?" someone yelled from the crowd. The other people in attendance nodded and started muttering among themselves. Leo held up his arm for quiet, wincing slightly at the ache he still felt every time he moved. Eventually, they all fell silent.

"I'll explain," he promised. "But first… I want you guys to understand just how much we've been working to stop Gaea and save _everyone_ – mortals, Greeks, _and_ Romans. I want you guys to understand that my friends and I never wanted our camps to fight. So before I explain anything, I want to swear this on the River Styx." He'd checked with Reyna beforehand, and she had assured him that an oath on the Styx was just as binding to Romans as to Greeks. "I did _not_ mean to fire on this camp. I was possessed by an _eidolon_, one of Gaea's minions. That was the enemy who wanted to destroy you guys – not me." He spread his arms wide. "We Greeks came in peace."

No thunder boomed. No boulder fell through the roof of the Forum and crushed Leo and his magical floating chair, although Octavian kept checking the ceiling hopefully. The residents of Camp Jupiter looked at each other, and then looked at Leo in surprise. Leo laughed inwardly at the undisguised amazement on some of their faces – he guessed they were the stubborn ones who had been begrudging his loyalty. But no one could ignore a promise sworn on the River Styx. If Leo was still alive, it meant he had been telling the truth. The legionnaires couldn't deny the facts staring them in the faces. It was time for Leo to really get going.

He looked at them sadly. "Believe me, if I could have discovered the _eidolon_ before I ever got here, I would have gotten rid of it immediately. We didn't want any of this distrust to sprout between us. Why did you guys _think_ we came here? Gaea is too powerful for one camp working alone, but together – united as one force determined to defeat her…" He grinned. "Well, old Dirt Face wouldn't stand a chance.

"That's why I left the _Argo II_ in the first place," he continued, his smile disappearing. "When I found out that you guys were planning on destroying my camp – the first home I've known in eight years – I knew I had to do something. I couldn't let our camps start fighting. Otherwise, every sacrifice my friends and I made in Rome would have been for nothing." He took a deep breath. "Otherwise, Percy and Annabeth would have fallen into Tartarus for nothing."

No one moved. Even the dust seemed to freeze in the air. "Yeah, you heard me right," Leo said nervously. His voice seemed too loud in the silence. "You see, after my possessed self fired on you guys, we thought all hope was lost for an alliance. Then Annabeth told us about something her mom had mentioned. A statue that had some kind of power that would unite our camps once and for all." He looked at the mass of faces staring at him. "Annabeth told us about the Athena Parthenos."

Half of the legionnaires, most of the New Rome residents, and all of the Lares gasped. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw Reyna looking grim but not surprised. He'd finally explained everything to her yesterday afternoon.

Octavian shot to his feet. "Do you mean to tell me…?" he spluttered. "The Parthenos… you _found_ it? It's impossible!"

Leo shook his head. "Annabeth found it. On her own. That was the catch." As quickly as he could manage, Leo summarized their adventures. Most of his audience just sat in amazement as he described traveling across the country and across the Atlantic. He talked about the endless rounds of monster attacks in the Mare Nostrum and the giants that had threatened to destroy Rome in a deadly round of "entertainment". His voice caught a little when he had to recount crashing through the Emmanuel Building's parking lot to find Annabeth standing on a ground more fragile than ice, with a giant spider trapped in a massive pair of Chinese finger cuffs and a huge statue of Athena at her sides.

"We thought that was the end of it," he told them thickly. "Annabeth had defeated Arachne and gotten the Parthenos all by herself. We had fulfilled the prophecy. We thought we were safe, at least for a while. But just as we started loading the Parthenos onto the ship, the floor started cracking. Even then, we thought we would all make it out okay, but there was a piece of spider silk wrapped around Annabeth's ankle, and Arachne… Arachne fell into Tartarus and pulled the silk – and Annabeth – down with her. It all happened so fast… Before any of us knew what was going on, Percy had grabbed Annabeth and tumbled off the surface with her. He had managed to catch hold of a ledge, so they were suspended between our ship and Tartarus. There was nothing any of us could do. Jason and Frank couldn't fly down and get them without getting sucked into Tartarus themselves. If I had just had a little more time, maybe I could have built something to pull them out." He shook his head. "But there _wasn't_ any time. The next thing I knew, Percy had let go of the ledge, and he and Annabeth were gone." He paused, letting the news sink in. The Romans looked suitably astonished.

That good old silence started up again. It was shattered by two words that made Leo madder than he had thought possible. "So what?"

For a second, Leo was speechless. Then he leapt out of his chair, ignoring the way his midsection felt like it was turning to fire, and marched down the steps towards Octavian. "_SO WHAT?_" Leo had to force himself not to set anything on fire. He knew that any show of violence could be the leverage Octavian needed to turn the Romans back against him. Instead, Leo burst the pathetic augur's personal space bubble. Octavian stood up to protest, but for once, _someone_ was shorter than Leo. He had the pleasure of glaring down at the idiot, with a look of pure murder in his eyes that shamed the augur into silence.

"_So what_?" he repeated, barely managing to maintain an inside voice. "I'll tell you _what_. Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus because they hoped that the Athena Parthenos would unite our camps. They forced us to rescue the statue instead of them. They could _die_ because they cared about camp. Not only their own camp, but _this_ camp too." He poked Octavian in the chest, and he stumbled backwards, almost falling into his seat. "They risked _everything_ – are _still_ risking everything – because they believed in _peace_. And you know what, _Octavian_? So did I." He scoffed. "Do you think I volunteered to stand trial because I didn't have anything _better_ to do? The _Argo II_ was attacked a few days ago. My friends are stranded in the Alps right now, and I'm the only one who can repair the ship and get them out of there. But I'm _here_ instead. I'm here because I believe in peace too." He resisted the urge to smack some sense into Octavian and kept going instead. "And I didn't collapse the tunnels under Rome because I'm a masochist either, in case you were wondering. Trust me, pain is _not_ fun. I did that because Gaea was sending a massive army of monsters to you guys, and I refused to let them reach you. I care about what happens to you Romans – or most of you, anyway. Octavian, I'd jump for joy if we got rid of _you_. But I think that most of Camp Jupiter agrees with me, so I don't feel too bad." The laughter that echoed through the Forum warmed Leo's heart. It made him feel like there really _was_ hope for the Romans. Maybe they had senses of humor after all.

"_Care_ about us?" Octavian scoffed, desperately trying to retain his dignity. "You could have killed us! You're just lucky that you didn't seriously injure any of us with your little _demonstration_."

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Leo yelled. His hands balled into fists. "I wasn't trying to kill _you guys_! Gaea was leading an army of monsters through the tunnels! They would've surfaced and caught you within the Pomerian Line, weaponless and unprepared! Would you prefer it if I had _let_ them?"

Octavian was quivering with anger. "You have no proof that there were monsters," he muttered. "Or indeed if it was _Gaea_ leading them – or _you_."

Leo was about to haul off and knock Octavian's lights out for _that_ jibe – or set the kid on fire, he wasn't sure which – but Reyna's voice stopped him just in time. "That's where you're wrong, Octavian," she said clearly. "Leo Valdez _does_ have proof."

"That's right!" a tiny voice shouted. Leo's heart swelled with gratitude. Bless Alexander… That kid had come up with a plan that had saved Leo's life, and now he was sticking up for him. What had Leo done to deserve that kind of support? "I saw the spoils of war myself!"

"We _all_ did." Todd added in his testimony too. "Monster dust was everywhere, along with monster weapons and monster hooves and horns. Besides, we found a couple of _dracaenae_ who hadn't died right away." Leo looked up in surprise and locked eyes with Cohort Three's centurion. The guy was grinning wickedly. "They spilled their secrets before I gutted them."

"I was there when it happened!" Alexander said, obviously still in awe about the incident.

"I was too!" other voices shouted out. Leo felt gratified when one of the voices belonged to Catherine Lizelle. It looked like his cooking had paid off in the end.

Reyna looked coldly at Octavian, who was starting to seem nervous. "As you can see, Leo Valdez has more than enough proof to back up his story," she told him.

"And if it will make you happy, I can swear on the Styx that I'm telling the truth," Leo added. "In fact, I'll do it anyway. Everything I said about our journey to Rome is true. Everything I said about our adventures _in_ Rome is true. And it's also true that Gaea told me that she was planning on attacking this camp with the army she was keeping in the underground tunnels. I swear this on the River Styx."

Octavian opened his mouth, couldn't think of anything to say, and closed it again. Leo smirked and then realized how much his ribs hurt. He went back to his magical floating chair before he could embarrass himself by collapsing or something. As far as he was concerned, he had made his case as well as he could. After all, he had his Roman friends, real evidence, and the Styx on his side. If those weren't enough to convince people, then Leo didn't know what was.

"I think we are ready to vote now," Reyna announced finally. "Each of you – whether legionnaire, New Rome resident, or Lar – can raise your hand to cast your vote. As I say each time we vote in this Forum, you are allowed to choose only _one_ option." She looked sternly at the members of the room. "First of all, the magic in this room will prevent you from voting twice. If you try, you will be forcibly removed from the Forum, and _both_ of your votes will be thrown out. Afterwards… Well, Rome is about justice, among other things. If any of you try to circumvent this law…" She smiled grimly. "You will have _me_ to contend with."

Not for the first time, Leo reminded himself to never get on Reyna's bad side. "There are four options for you to choose from, Rome," she continued, treating them to another icy stare. "Choose wisely. First of all, you can vote to both march on Camp Half-Blood _and_ sentence Leo Valdez to death." The way her voice quivered with anger as she listed this option made it clear to everyone how she felt about this choice. Leo gulped. He knew this was how Octavian would vote, but he prayed that the rest of the legion would see sense. "Second, you could vote to march on Camp Half-Blood but spare Leo Valdez's life." This option annoyed Leo to no end. If they chose this, Leo would have wasted days and immeasurable pain for nothing. If they chose this, the _Argo II_ would have crashed for nothing. Jason, Piper, and Coach Hedge would have vanished for nothing. Gods, he hoped they didn't choose this.

"Third, you can decide that Leo Valdez's death is the price of peace. You can sentence him, but not march on Camp Half-Blood. After he is gone, we would begin peace negotiations." This option scared Leo the most. He knew it was the most likely, and he knew that if this was how the majority of Rome voted, he would have no choice but to accept it. If he tried to escape, or managed to escape, there would never be peace. Camp Jupiter would immediately attack his home. But Leo also knew that if he died here, his friends would be stranded in the Alps indefinitely, and that would spell the end of their quest. For the first time, Leo began to realize that maybe it _would_ be bad if he died. His friends _needed_ him if they were going to make it all the way to the House of Hades and free Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus. Maybe he _was_ important after all. The idea was so foreign to Leo, he nearly toppled out of his chair in surprise.

"Finally, you can decide that we do not need any bloodshed to find peace. You can realize that the Greeks have been working to build peace for months now. Annabeth Chase faced her mortal enemy because she believed that the Athena Parthenos would unite our camps. Leo Valdez has offered to do whatever it takes to make us allies as well. He – along with the rest of the seven and most of Camp Half-Blood – has risked everything to try to convince us that they mean us no harm. _I_ am convinced; after all, a promise sworn on the River Styx _has_ to be truthful. If you choose this option, Leo will not be killed, and we will not start a civil war. Instead we will form a peaceful alliance with the Greeks, and together, we will defeat Gaea once and for all!"

Reyna spoke with confidence, making her position on the matter obvious to everyone in the room. Leo prayed that this option would win. It _had_ to win. He wouldn't have minded dying to protect his home… But he didn't want to die if it meant he _wouldn't_ be able to protect his friends. _Gods of Olympus, _he prayed,_ I don't ask for a lot from you guys. I've worked my butt off to get the _Argo II_ flying, and I've been willing to do whatever it takes to find peace. But I _need_ this option to win. And if you want to remain in power, _you _need this option to win. I've done all I can to make the Romans see sense. Please finish the job._

"All right," Reyna said. "The voting will now begin." Leo started drumming his fingers anxiously against the armrests of his chair, but he stopped quickly. First of all, if Reyna was nervous about the results, she didn't show it. Leo figured it would be a good idea to follow her lead. Second, it kind of still hurt to move.

"All those who would vote for Option 1 – put Leo to death _and_ march on the Greeks – raise your hands." Octavian lifted his arm immediately, and then turned and glowered at the ranks of people sitting behind him. For a second, Leo thought he was safe. Then about half of the Lares raised their hands too.

"The Greeks have betrayed us over and over again!" one yelled angrily. "I will never forget the bloodshed of the Civil War!" Leo wondered which civil war the Lar was talking about – the ancient kind or the American kind. "They must pay for their crimes!"

Leo wanted to stand and complain, but he knew that it wouldn't do him any good. Their votes had been cast. It was too late to change their minds. Leo gulped as he stared out at the mass of raised hands. How many people in the Forum wanted him dead?

He turned to see if Reyna was going to announce the next option and gasped. Like magic, words were being written on the floor – in a substance that looked suspiciously like blood. He glanced at Reyna, and she shook her head slightly. _It's not blood_, she mouthed. That didn't reassure Leo as much as it should have. He looked back at the ground. _Option I_, it read. And underneath, _LIII_. He resisted the urge to wince. That meant there were fifty-two bloodthirsty Lares in the crowd who didn't want to be peaceful, and probably never would. Leo prayed that there were more of them who _did_ still remember how to forgive.

After the mysterious writing had finished, Reyna stood again. She didn't seem fazed by the results. "All those who favor Option 2 – spare Leo and march on the Greeks – raise your hands." Only a few people did.

"Leo's cool," he heard one mutter, "but most Greeks are idiots." Leo didn't know whether to feel complimented or insulted, but he breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what happened, there were way more than 106 people who still had to vote. However the rest of the Forum split, either option three or four would win. Although Leo _really_ hoped option four would, at least his camp would be spared either way. _Option II_, the floor read finally. _IX._

"All those who favor Option 3 – ally with the Greeks but take Leo's life – raise your hands." An overwhelming number of people did.

"If Rome backs down without asking for something in return, we will look weak," someone said. Leo couldn't see the speaker in the vast crowd. "After all of the past bloodshed, we cannot just give up completely. Camp Half-Blood cannot have full amnesty. They would use that decision to take advantage of us." Leo scowled. Didn't the Romans understand that Greeks didn't have some _angle_ they were playing? They _weren't_ trying to catch Rome off-guard? _They were just trying to have peace for once?_ How was that so hard to understand?

"The Greeks have feuded with us for millennia," another person shouted. Leo couldn't identify that voice either, but its next words made him feel cold as dry ice. "A grudge like that cannot, and should not, be taken lightly. A few simple acts will not wipe away past grievances. Those must still be accounted for. No matter what Leo Valdez has done for us, peace always comes with a price. That price _must_ be paid." Leo winced, and not just because his ribs were aching. Was that all these people thought of him as? Not as a human being – but as a _price_?

More and more hands shot into the air. Leo felt close to passing out. That was a _lot_ of votes. What if some of the rest abstained? What if there weren't enough to begin with? What if he died and never saw his friends again? What if his mother found out and blamed him for not doing enough?

_Option III_, the floor said. _CLXXVIII._ 178 votes. Leo started to hyperventilate. Reyna had warned him that about thirty people usually refused to vote. That left… Oh gods… He tallied up the numbers. Nine plus one hundred and seventy-eight pus fifty-three was two hundred and forty. Add thirty to that, and it was two hundred and seventy. Reyna had said that there were only about four hundred fifty people who qualified for voting in Rome, and nobody knew how many of them would show up to these things. Oh gods, it was going to be close. Oh gods, he didn't think he had 179 people who would vote for him. Oh gods…

"All those who favor Option 4 – avoid all bloodshed and form an alliance with the Greeks – please raise your hands." The _please_ in there didn't go unnoticed in Leo's eyes. Reyna herself raised her hand, and so did many other people in the Forum. Leo smiled slightly. Even if they weren't enough to save him, Leo was glad that he had even _this_ many allies.

_Option IV_, the floor wrote. _C… L… X…_ Why did the magic writing have to go so _slowly_? Leo reached into his tool belt and clenched whatever came to mind in his fists, squeezing until he was sure his screwdriver had made indentations in his palm. It was the only way Leo could stop himself from setting anything on fire. _X…_ the floor wrote. _I… _

_Come on,_ Leo thought desperately. _Let the next letter be an X._ That would be 179 votes. That was all he needed to win…

_I._


	12. Part XII

**Wow, 34 reviews? That's by far the most I've ever gotten for one chapter. Now I know how to force reviews out of you guys... Mwahahaha! (Just kidding... I promise I didn't write the cliffhanger for the sake of writing a cliffhanger. It just flowed well in the story. :) Anyway, thank you so much for all of the reviews! This is the first story I ever posted on fanfiction, and when I see all of the lovely reviews I've gotten for it... It makes me proud and really, really happy. :') Thanks again!**

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**And enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians... Even though some of you thought that last chapter's cliffhanger was Rick-worthy. :P**

* * *

**Leo**

* * *

Leo's world was crashing down around him. He had fallen seven votes short of the total he needed. Now he was going to die, and his friends would be stuck in the Alps forever, and _oh gods he was going to die_…

He looked up at Reyna slowly, like he was pushing through water. Her face had blanched as pale as Leo felt, and she was staring blankly at the floor like it couldn't possibly be right.

Leo, on the other hand, didn't need to look at the ground to see his fate. The shapes of those six Roman numerals were burned into his mind. _CLXXII_. They might as well have said "Leo is dead".

Now his world was _literally_ crashing down around him. Leo had a funny feeling that the ceiling was collapsing on his head… No, he was in the tunnels destroying wooden support beams… No, he was in the workshop and it was on fire… Whatever was going on, Leo was trapped. He was suffocating. He could feel the magical floating chair wobbling underneath him. Any moment now, it would tip over, and he would tumble down the steps and into the tunnels underneath Rome, and then he would wake up to a burning workshop full of people who were going to kill him because they didn't like Greeks—

Someone screamed.

Leo's head snapped up just before he passed out and fell out of his chair. Who on earth had more of a reason to scream than _Leo_ did?

Another person cried out.

Then two more.

What was _happening_?

"Stop!" someone yelled out. "I didn't… What… Stop! Stop right now!"

"You foolish, no-good, cheating, sorry excuse for a legionnaire!" Leo twisted his head around the Forum, looking for the source of the commotion. He found it in the form of Terminus – just his head this time – floating in front of a rude First Cohort girl named Nora. "Didn't Reyna warn you about voting twice?" Terminus growled. "I know she warned you!"

Nora had always boasted about being the toughest girl in camp – a bit like Clarisse, only she didn't have anything even vaguely resembling a soft side – but she was cowering in front of the body-less god. Leo couldn't really blame her. He just watched in dumb fascination, temporarily forgetting about his predicament. Terminus's head was growing as he got angrier. "I am the god of boundaries," he told her, "and you have just crossed one! For that, girl, you will be sorry!"

Suddenly, a marble arm appeared next to Terminus's marble head. Leo's mouth dropped open. So the guy really _did_ have appendages after all…? Before he could really process it, the arm grabbed Nora by the collar, dragged her out of her seat, and threw her unceremoniously out of the Forum. Then the arm returned and Terminus gave the same speech to two kids sitting a couple rows over. Apparently, he had appeared to each cheater in quick succession, which was what had caused the shouting. After those two had been tossed out, he appeared to one last kid who looked so terrified, Leo wondered if he should feel bad for the kid. Then he checked the floor, finally remembering that both of each kid's votes would be dropped, and he forgot about pity.

_Option I: LIII._

_Option II: V._

_Option III: CLXXIV._

_Option IV: CLXXII._

Leo almost felt like crying. Now his loss was even _more_ painful. Only three votes stood between life and death for him. _Three_ people had decided his fate. Why couldn't he have convinced _three_ more people that he was worth saving?

Reyna stood up abruptly. "If that is everyone who has disregarded the rules of this Forum by voting twice," she said coolly, "I will now go outside and deal with those four." Leo doubted anyone else noticed, but he could see a crack in Reyna's tough-girl armor for the first time. It confused him. Reyna _never_ cracked – not even when Jason had dropped in on her with a new girlfriend and a host of other surprises. Was she really _that_ upset about the vote?

Reyna took four steps towards the Forum doors, and then they burst open. Leo stared in amazement as Centurion Talbot and another elderly woman walked in – well, the centurion walked. The other lady tottered.

"I apologize, my fellow Romans," Centurion Talbot announced. "We set out for the Forum over an hour ago, but Samantha had trouble getting around the debris. We were also attacked by a few straggling monsters. It isn't too late to vote, is it?"

She looked up at where Reyna was standing, and then her eyes dropped to the floor. They widened almost imperceptibly, and then looked up into Reyna's without betraying a hint of… well, anything. Leo was impressed. Those two would get along well. They could start their own "Show No Emotion" club.

Reyna cleared her throat and then smiled slightly. "I don't believe that it would be fair to stop two Romans from voting just because they were delayed by forces outside their control. Centurion Talbot and Ms. Samantha, your options are as follows: Option 1 would both sentence Leo to death and require us to march on Camp Half-Blood. Option 2 would spare Leo's life, but we would still begin the civil war, and Option 3 would stop the civil war but result in Leo's death. Option 4 would allow us to both spare Leo _and_ ally with the Greeks. Centurion Talbot, which option do you choose?"

"Option 4," she said firmly and without hesitation. Leo glowed with happiness – literally _glowed_. He started heating up before he realized he would set the Forum on fire and stopped hurriedly. _Option IV: CLXXIII._

"And Ms. Samantha, which option do you choose?"

"Option 4," Samantha answered, her voice wavering with age.

_Option IV: CLXXIV_.

Leo almost started to cheer – the two options were actually _tied_ – before he remembered what Reyna had told him would happen in the event of a tie. Everyone in the Forum would vote again, she'd said, but they would only be able to vote for one of the remaining options. In that case, Leo was screwed. There were fifty-three people in the audience who wanted to see _all_ Greeks destroyed. If they had to choose between options three and four, they'd pick whichever would hurt the Greeks most. If the Forum had to vote again, Leo's fate would be sealed.

Reyna seemed to realize that too. "In light of all of the recent events, the voting statistics have changed rather drastically," she said. "Because of this development, I will allow any last-minute votes to count in the total."

No one moved.

"Does anyone wish to place a vote?" Reyna asked. She was fighting to remain neutral, but Leo could hear a note of pleading in her tone. He would've been pleading too – getting on his knees, crawling to each person, begging desperately, the whole deal – except that he couldn't seem to move. Getting up and confronting Octavian had taken more strength than he cared to admit, and now, faced with his own death, he felt even weaker. Leo figured that if he tried to stand, he would fall down the stairs and make a fool of himself, and then it would _really_ be hopeless. So instead he just sat as still as an ADHD demigod could sit and gripped the armrests of his magical floating chair tightly.

"Any last-minute votes?" Reyna repeated. "_Anyone_?"

The Forum was silent. Reyna opened her mouth to speak again. Maybe she wanted to ask one last time, or maybe she was about to resign herself to a recount-

But then, with a deep breath that echoed through the entire room, someone got to her feet.

Leo's heart, stomach, and other vital organs dropped into his shoes.

The girl was Pria, and as far as he was concerned, she was nearly as power-hungry as Octavian and just as anti-Greek. He was doomed.

"I had planned to abstain," she was saying when Leo tuned back in, "but after seeing how things are falling now…"

"Do you need me to repeat the options?" Reyna asked, her expression as nervous and terrified as Leo's. (Well, not really. It had barely changed at all. But for Reyna, that was the equivalent of being as nervous and terrified as Leo.)

"No," Pria said softly. "I remember them." She looked down at Octavian, who was grinning triumphantly from ear-to-ear. She glanced around the Forum, soaking in the anxious faces that waited for her vote. And then finally, she raised her head to Leo's, and he stared in surprise. Pria didn't look haughty, superior, or mocking. She looked… torn. Leo looked back at her, and to his surprise, something like sympathy surfaced within him. There was something major going on with Pria – more than just the usual life-threatening monster skirmishes and deadly power struggles. Something was scaring her as much as the result of this trial was scaring Leo, something that was affecting her decision. So instead of silently begging her to help him or glaring at her, he simply nodded. _Whatever you choose, _he thought at her, _I understand. I will forgive you, if it requires forgiveness. _And then, just to make sure she got the message, he mouthed those words.

Her eyes widened as he said that, like she couldn't believe what he was saying. He nodded at her again and offered the barest hint of a smile (it was the most he could manage right now). At that, Pria straightened her shoulders and returned her gaze to Reyna's.

"I remember the options," she said again, stronger this time. "I choose…"

Leo swore that every person in the Forum was holding his or her breath.

"…Option Four."

Octavian stood up, beaming. "You see, Rome always delivers justice in the end…" he started. Then he seemed to realize what Pria had said and whirled on her, mouth agape. "Option… Pria, you didn't! You couldn't have!" He reached for his dagger, seemed to remember that it wasn't there, and settled for grabbing Pria's toga instead. "You filthy… betrayer… friend of the _graeci_…" he growled.

Leo didn't know what he was doing. He hadn't fully processed that Pria had literally just saved his life, along with the 174 other people who had voted for him. He didn't quite understand that he was going to live to return to the _Argo II_ and all his quest friends now. All he knew was that Octavian was threatening a girl who had helped him out, and that wasn't cool. So Leo didn't remember that he was in too much pain to stand, much less walk. He just catapulted out of his chair and yanked Octavian away from the other First Cohort centurion.

"Rome has spoken, Octavian," he told the furious augur. "You can't change the decision now. Why don't you just go murder a couple teddy bears and proclaim good fortune and success for our upcoming alliance?"

Octavian pulled himself free of Leo and glared. His face was slowly turning purple, and his fingers were flexing at his side. "You… do not… deserve… to live," he said slowly, his voice rising with every word. "Greeks have never done _anything_ to help us! They will only betray us! And you have come and poisoned the minds of my fellow Romans! _You have doomed us all!_"

Suddenly, Octavian's arms were up and his hands were around Leo's neck. Leo tried to fight him off, but when he tried to kick the kid, he ripped the stitches in his leg. Now he was bleeding all over the Forum floor, and his head was pounding again, and his ribs and lungs were aching, and his entire body was screaming for oxygen, and his sight was fading fast…

Just when Leo was sure he was going to die after all, he felt the grip around his neck slacken. He dropped to the ground, gasping for air, and saw Reyna holding the remains of his magical floating chair over her head. Pria was standing off to the side, staring at the scene with wide eyes. "That was going to be me," she kept saying.

Reyna dropped the chair and helped Pria sit down. Then Gwen magically appeared and crouched next to her, whispering something or other. And the next thing Leo knew, Reyna was at his side with a worried look on her face. "Are you all right?" she asked. "That's the second time you've almost died in two days."

Leo coughed and rubbed his neck. "I'm… fine…" he said.

Reyna just rolled her eyes and offered him her hand. With a bit of help, he managed to stand. "You're not fine at all," she told him. "And I also broke your floating wheelchair."

"It's… fine…" he managed. "I'll… get out of here… somehow." He looked down, remembered that his leg was bleeding, and clasped his hand to it.

She gave him a dry look. "Yes, you'll get out of here. On a stretcher, if you keep this up." She held the expression for a couple seconds, and then she couldn't help it. Reyna broke into a genuine smile that made her dark eyes seem like they were laughing. "You won, Leo!" she said happily. "In fact, we _all_ won today!" Still grinning, she reached out for Leo's shoulder – almost like she was going to pull him into a _hug_, as crazy as that seemed. But the gesture quickly turned into a steadying hand as Leo tried to put weight on his re-injured leg and almost fell. "You're going to kill yourself if I don't get you to the infirmary," she sighed. "Come on, Valdez."

Just then, something groaned on the floor. Leo looked down and finally noticed that Octavian was lying passed-out at his feet. He looked back up and locked eyes with Reyna. "My chair…?" he asked, gesturing at the augur.

"That was something I've wanted to do for years," she said, nodding in satisfaction. "And you finally gave me an excuse."

He laughed. "Always a pleasure to be at your service, milady."

He started to say something else, but then the blood loss got to him. So instead of being witty, he just held his leg tighter and tried to ignore how exhausted he felt. Through his fuzzy vision, he saw Brady coming towards them. "This was a mistake," the medic said. His voice sounded like it was fighting to cut through the fog of Leo's brain. The words faded in and out, so that Leo only caught fragments. "Leo wasn't ready… Running down stairs and almost… to death."

"Not… mistake…" he insisted, trying not to collapse. "We… won… right?"

Leo was vaguely aware of getting laid on a stretcher in front of the entire Forum, just like Reyna had said he would be. Then he let the dizziness take over, and he was gone… but he didn't even care. The pain didn't bother him. After all, they had won. And that was all that mattered.

* * *

**Oh, come on, guys. I'm so fully on Team Leo, it's ridiculous. Did you really think I'd kill off my favorite character? When actual authors do it (*cough cough Divergent cough cough*), I want to run to their houses and hold their faces against an open notebook and scream, "Change that scene! Change it now! Make -insertcharacternamehere- live! _Change it! CHANGE IT!_" :P There's no way I would ever do the same thing in a fanfiction. I would be so mad at myself. :)**

**Thanks for your support! Reviews are appreciated!**


	13. Part XIII

**Yay, reviews! The support I've gotten for this story is simply fabulous, guys. :) Congratulations to Ajluv, the 250th reviewer!**

**And have a chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm still not Rick Riordan. STILL.**

* * *

**Leo**

Leo stood up and walked out of the baths with Reyna, grinning triumphantly. After three more days, she had finally given in and sent an IM with Leo. Nico was coming in about half an hour.

Most of the cohorts were training in the Field of Mars, so the barracks were pretty deserted. Leo leaned against a wall and grinned at Rome's praetor. "Well, Rey, we did it. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter will be allies for the first time in thousands of years."

She just shook her head and smiled. "All thanks to you, Leo. I never would have believed that one guy could single-handedly make 175 people realize that it was time for peace."

"I think all those people knew it, deep down," he said. "I just had to prove it to them." He shrugged, feeling grateful that he could finally move again. His pain had dulled into the occasional throb, which he ignored and never mentioned to anyone, least of all Reyna. He was behind schedule enough as it was.

Reyna laughed. It still surprised Leo every time she did. "Always the modest one, Valdez." Then she hugged him.

Leo staggered backwards in complete shock.

"What was that for?"

Reyna reddened. "That was the 'I'm-glad-you're-safe' hug that I wanted to give you when you first came back," she muttered. "Only you were hurt pretty badly. Also, I was worried that the legionnaires would talk."

Leo laughed and hugged her back. "What was _that_ for?"

"That was the 'we-are-amazing' hug that I wanted to give you when we won the trial," Leo grinned. "Only I was hurt pretty badly. Also, I was worried that the entire Forum would talk."

Reyna rolled her eyes like she couldn't stand him, but she couldn't completely hide her smile. Every time Reyna cracked her tough shell and offered up a smile, a smirk, or – on those rare occasions – a laugh, Leo felt proud. "I still can't believe that _Pria_ voted for peace," she told him. "All this time, and I never knew that Octavian threatened her whenever she wanted to disagree with him on anything."

Leo nodded. It turned out that Pria had been afraid to vote because Octavian had promised to kill her and hurt her baby cousin Grace if she tried. But when she realized that Leo needed just _one_ more vote to be safe, she knew that she had to vote anyway. She knew that his friends needed him in the Alps, and she decided that peace was more important than her own life. Her only worry was that she wouldn't be able to protect Grace before Octavian got to her. Now, with Octavian safely in jail and awaiting his own trial, Grace would be fine. And Pria had personally come and seen Leo while he was in the infirmary. "Thank you," he remembered her saying. "You gave me the strength to stand up to Octavian. I had forgotten that I could." Leo was still amazed that he could have that kind of effect on people – that he could make that kind of difference.

"Things are going to be different around here," he observed. "Rome and Greece together… It's going to be awkward for a while."

"Probably," Reyna agreed. "But I think everyone will figure it out." She grinned at him. "After all, you and I managed it."

Leo hesitated. "I guess we did." But looking her in the eye was still a little painful. Since he had gotten back, Reyna hadn't even _hinted_ that she wanted to be something more than friends. He tried to convince himself that being friends was enough. After all, when it came to Reyna, that was an accomplishment in itself.

"I'm going to miss you, Valdez," Reyna said suddenly. "Things will be… a little more boring without you around."

He waved a hand, ignoring his pounding heart. She would miss him too? "Don't worry, Rey," he told her. "This Gaea business will be over before we can blink. And anyways, I have a feeling I'm going to see you again before it ends. It's going to take all of us to destroy her armies for good."

Reyna nodded. "But we _will_ destroy them. And then, afterwards…" She looked wistfully at the _principia_, flanked by two houses, one of which was still empty. "Maybe someone will come back here and be Rome's second praetor again. It's… Well, it's really a two-person job."

She looked back at him, and Leo got a jolt of horror. She didn't… She wasn't asking _him_ to do it? _Leo Valdez?_ Okay, so maybe he wasn't destroying _everything_ he touched now… But still. He wasn't a _leader_! He screwed up steering the _Argo II _and landed them with a gigantic sea monster! He couldn't be responsible for an entire _camp_!

"Percy loves this place," he told her. "And so does Jason. I'm sure one of them will be happy to start work again."

"Maybe," she said. But she sounded unconvinced, especially when he mentioned Jason. Leo figured that she still had trouble trusting the guy again, after what had happened way back in June. He couldn't really blame her, but it still confused him. If she was still mad at Jason... Why had she forgiven _him_?

Reyna checked her watch. "Nico's going to be here soon," she told him, a little sadly. "Are you _sure_ you don't need anything?"

He shook his head. He doubted they had any Celestial bronze to lend him if he needed it to fix the ship, and there was no way he was going to try to mix that stuff with Imperial gold. That was _asking_ for trouble. And he was pretty sure his tool belt could supply him with any other materials he needed. People had already given him some clothes, which was the only thing Leo was really lacking after handing most of his stuff over to Buford in Charleston. (He had also gotten some of Frank's, Hazel's, and Nico's things from their respective barracks. Leo figured Frank would be especially excited to get clothes that actually fit him after wearing Jason's jeans for most of the trip.)

"I'm good," he told her. "Mostly just anxious to get back to the others and see how I can help. But after the war..." He grinned. "Well, I'm definitely not praetor material. And I'm not the best at sparring either." Reyna had lamented about the lack of competition at Camp Jupiter a couple of times. "But I'll come to visit anyways, and when I do... If you ever need a laugh, or a taco, or a s'more, I'm your man."

Reyna hesitated, and for a second, Leo thought she was going to roll her eyes at him and walk away. Instead she smiled tentatively back at Leo and said, "Actually, I haven't had a taco in months. Mexican food isn't really common around here."

Leo put on a face of mock horror. "_No tacos?_ Well, Ms. Reyna, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

Reyna swept her braid to the side and grinned. "I suppose we will."

If one had looked at their conversation just then, at a certain angle and in a certain light, it would've almost seemed like Leo had asked Reyna on a date – and Reyna had accepted. Leo knew that was crazy, though. Because Reyna was the strictly professional praetor of Rome, and anyways the not-a-date probably wouldn't happen for months, if it happened at all. And she'd most likely forget all about it and so if he ever _did_ set it up she'd think he was a stalker for remembering... Despite all of that, Leo couldn't help but smile. It was a dangerous world around the Mare Nostrum, after all. He would need something like a not-a-date with Reyna to hold onto when the world looked bleak.

Just then, Leo heard a cough. He turned and saw Nico looking at Leo and Reyna, the bags at Leo's feet, and the (probably strange) expression on Leo's face. "Um... So, I'm here," Nico said finally. "Are you ready to go?"

Leo hesitated. "Yeah, of course." He looked at Reyna. "I'll see you later."

Her eyes seemed more distant already. "When you want us to come, just send me an Iris-message, and we'll be there as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I think we'll set out for Camp Half-Blood again – to make peace this time."

Leo nodded. "I'll IM them. You know, so they won't try to kill you guys."

Reyna smiled a little. "That's probably a good idea."

Nico coughed again. "Leo..."

"Right." Leo turned back to Reyna and held out his hand. She shook it, which felt weirdly formal after everything that had happened to them over the last few weeks.

"Be safe, Leo," Reyna told him.

"I can't promise that," he said. "But I can promise to do my best."

"Fine, then," she said. "Your best."

He nodded again and paused, wondering if he should add anything.

_You're beautiful. _

_I really like you. _

_I'll miss you. _

_I'm holding you to that taco date._

In the end, he just let go of her hand and grinned at her. "Have fun holding Octavian's trial. I wish I could be there."

Reyna laughed. "Don't worry. I'll make it good."

Then Leo picked up the bags of clothes with one hand and grabbed Nico's arm with the other. They stepped into the shadows, and Reyna disappeared.

* * *

**Nico**

When he stepped out of the shadows, the first thing Nico saw was Hazel running towards them, curls flying. She wrapped her arms around Leo first, and then Nico, smiling happily. She fussed over them for a while, making sure that Leo was as healthy as he claimed and that Nico had survived his shadow travels. Eventually, the son of Hephaestus took a step back. "I'm fine, Hazel," he promised. "And I come with gifts."

He threw one bag to Frank, who was standing to the side awkwardly, and passed the others to Hazel and Nico. Then he pulled three complete meals out of his tool belt and gave them to his friends, grinning. "I thought you guys could use these," he said. "There are coats in the bags of clothes too."

"My gods, Leo, you're amaz—" Hazel started to say. But before she could get to the "thank you" part of her sentence, Leo was running towards his warship, waving a hand over his shoulder.

"I know I'm amazing, Hazel," he yelled over to her. "Thanks! But I've got to go. This ship won't fix itself, and I've lost five days already. Come get me if you need me to light a better fire." Then he jumped over the side of the ravine and disappeared.

Hazel started towards him, but Frank grabbed her by the shoulder. "He's obviously okay," he told her. "And if you run after him now, your food will get cold. We'll all find him before it gets dark. I'm sure he can survive until then."

She allowed herself to be led towards the fire, and Nico shook his head as he followed. Leo had been missing for days, had almost been killed several times, and had probably suffered some things so terrible, he would never talk about them. But he didn't seem too worse for wear. Tartarus had changed Nico permanently, but the son of Hephaestus had faced Gaea too _and_ come out acting like the same Leo Valdez. It was enough to make Nico a little jealous. He wished he could let go of things so easily.

_Oh well, _he thought to himself. _You can't have everything. Leo's back, and he's safe. That will just have to be enough._

* * *

**Leo**

Leo whistled softly as he stood on a rock ledge and examined the _Argo II_. There were several holes in the hull, and two of the masts were broken. The top of the ship (including Festus's head) was just peeking above the ravine, and his dragon friend bent at an odd angle. Also, a rock had crashed into the helm, damaging it pretty badly, and a few oars had snapped in half. But as long as the engine was intact...

Leo's eyes widened. _The engine_. He pulled a rope out of his tool belt, tied a lasso, and pulled it over Festus's head. Then he jumped down to the deck and started bouncing down, rock-climbing style. As soon as he found a Leo-sized hole in the wood (which was depressingly soon), he dropped inside and landed on his feet.

That didn't last long, though. The floor was so tilted that he immediately fell on his stomach and started sliding. He grappled for a handhold and found it in the form of a plank of wood that had bent upwards from the force of whatever had attacked the ship. Leo felt splinters sink into his hands and cursed. As if he didn't have enough injuries already...

Once he felt recovered from the sudden slip-and-slide, Leo looped his rope around the wood and resumed jumping down the halls. He found the stairs, which finally allowed him to let go of the rope, and hurried down to the engine room. Leo threw the doors open, already half in a panic, and was relieved to see that it wasn't hot inside. At least the engine wasn't about to explode again.

Then he examined it more closely, and a new string of choice words shot from his mouth. Rather than overheat, the pistons and tubes that connected the ship to the engine had frozen. It was no surprise that Festus's eyes hadn't been lit... That the autopilot might have malfunctioned...

"Khione," Leo muttered, "if this is you again, I swear I will throw you through the Doors of Death myself." He didn't bother waiting for an answer. Instead, he pulled a can of pressurized air and a cloth out of his belt with one hand and lit the other on fire. Then, cursing a few more times for good measure, he got to work.

* * *

"Leo!" He jerked up, hitting his head on a Celestial bronze tube, and cursed in annoyance.

"I'm here!" he shouted. "What is it?"

"It's late, Leo!" He could finally distinguish the voice as Frank's. "Hazel told me to fly in here and come find you, so I tried. But I can't manage the 'find you' part. Can you just come up on deck, and we can go back to the fire together? We all need to get some rest – you included."

"Nah, man, I'm almost done!" Leo yelled. "I'll come over in half an hour!"

Then he hesitated. He knew what would happen if Frank left now. That half an hour would stretch into half a day, and before he knew it, he would have pulled yet another all-nighter. The thought didn't bother Leo too much, even though his ribs were starting to hurt again from being bent over for so long. Usually he would ignore the pain, but now he remembered that Reyna had told him not to work himself to death. Also, he wouldn't be much use in a fight – and with them being so close to the original home of the gods, Leo knew there would be _plenty_ of fights – if he didn't heal properly. He didn't want to let his friends down when it mattered most like that. So instead of talking Frank into leaving, he stood up carefully and checked to make sure that nothing would blow up while he was gone. Then he climbed out of the engine room and up the stairs. Frank was waiting near the plank that had given Leo splinters, holding onto the rope so that he wouldn't slide down.

"Look, man," Leo said. "You guys have been sleeping in the cold for almost a week. I think that I can finish fixing the engine room tonight, and then I might be able to pilot the ship out of this ravine. But, uh, it would go faster if I had some help."

"Well, I can go get Hazel..." Frank started to say. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, you mean _me_? Dude, I'd love to help, but it's probably not a good idea. I'm pretty much the clumsiest person in the universe."

Leo laughed. "What I have in mind isn't that complicated," he promised. "There's a lot of debris on the deck, and it's weighing the ship down. If I'm going to get this thing airborne with the residual energy I can scrounge out of the engine, it needs to be as light as possible. Do you think you could turn into some animal and move that stuff onto the side of the ravine?"

Frank nodded, grinning. "Now _that_ I can do."

"Fantastic." Leo paused. "Look, you can keep track of time better outside than I can in here. If it starts getting late – like, _really_ late – come tell me, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Frank said. "But can't you, I don't know, pull a watch out of that magic tool belt of yours?"

"Yeah," Leo said, "but that doesn't mean I'll actually check it."

"Fair enough," Frank said. "Give one to me then, and if you're not out in an hour, I'll yell again."

"Do animals wear watches?"

Frank glared at him. "Just hand it over, Repair Boy."

Leo smirked as he pulled a watch out and tossed it to Frank. They had always made fun of each other, but Leo was glad that the jokes were friendly now. He couldn't believe that a few weeks ago, they had barely tolerated each other. They'd even been close to _fighting_ each other once, mostly because of Hazel. Now Leo knew that it would be _weird_ if he ever dated her, seeing as her old boyfriend was Leo's freaking _great-grandfather_. That wasn't so strange that he couldn't be _friends_ with the daughter of Pluto, but anything more? Nuh-uh. That would be venturing into the realm of awkward. Besides, Frank made her happy. Leo wasn't going to be responsible for breaking _that_ up. And, Leo admitted, he had had trouble keeping friends all his life, with all of the running away and everything. Frank was a pretty cool kid. Leo would prefer it if they stayed friends for a while.

Frank checked the time. "I'll be back down here in an hour," he said.

"I'll be finished in half that time," Leo claimed.

"We'll see about that."

* * *

"Leo! It's been an hour!"

The sudden noise startled Leo, and he banged his head on another pipe. He cursed. Why did this stuff _always_ happen to him?

"I'm almost done!" he yelled. "Two minutes!"

He carefully dusted off the last of the frost with his cloth and inched out of the tight space he'd crammed into. Then he looked the engine room over and nodded, satisfied. He was covered in grease, muck, and ice, but the tubes and pistons were all sparkling clean, the way they hadn't been since the engine first started. He had reconnected the pipes that had come loose in the crash, and professionally duct-taped any frayed wires together. It looked even more haphazard than it had the first time Leo built it, but Leo knew it was in perfect working order. The only problem was... It still didn't work.

That was easily fixed, though. He went over to the Archimedes sphere in the middle of the room. Before running off to stand trial in front of the Romans, Leo had hooked the device up to the engine and turned it into the new control center of the ship. He had been planning on moving it to the helm eventually, but now he was glad that had never happened. He had found it in a corner, meaning that it had been jostled out of its wires and thrown there during the crash. If it had been at the helm, it could have been lost forever. And Leo had paid too high a price for that sphere to lose it now.

Leo placed his hand on the sphere. He entered the access code again. _Twelve, Jupiter, Orion, Delta, Three, Theta, Omega._ Then he heated his palm to activate the mechanism, feeling the inner gears clicking into place as it rebooted.

The Archimedes sphere whirred to life. Leo punched in a few codes he'd learned from pouring over _On Building Spheres_.

"Leo! What are you doing down there?"

"I'm coming!" He left the room and ran up the stairs. Using the rope to keep him from slipping, he bounded up to the deck. Frank was standing near the railing, waiting for him. Leo was glad to see that the rocks that had fallen onto the ship were gone, along with the broken part of the masts. He looked over and saw them in a heap on a long ledge. He stared at Frank in amazement. "What kind of animal could lift...? Never mind. I don't want to know." He pulled himself up to the helm, praying that the line connecting the engine room to Festus was still working. Then he saw the light coming from his dragon's eyes and grinned. Yes!

Suddenly, the _Argo II_ slipped. Leo hung onto the rope for dear life. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Frank latched onto the railing. "I've got to get this thing airborne!" he yelled. "You should get out of here while you can! This is going to be rocky!"

Frank hesitated. "You should get out of here too—"

"I'll be fine!" Leo promised. "Now go!"

He didn't wait for Frank to answer. Leo turned all his attention to the helm, pulling his Wii controller out of his tool belt. _All right, Festus_, he thought. _Let's do this._

The ship creaked and shuddered. Festus clicked his teeth and woke up. Leo turned on his controllers and shook them. _Up,_ he thought. _There's got to be enough energy in this load of bronze for that command. Up!_

The world was tilting, and Leo was right in the middle of it. "Come on," he muttered, "go _up_! Up, you idiot, not backwards! In all the Styx I've seen..."

Months of Leo's hard work were about to slide into oblivion, taking him with it. Leo glared at the helm. He had been through _way_ too much Styx to go down with his ship now. He shouted codes at Festus, yanked his controllers violently, and sent a blast of heat into the helm, hoping to melt any ice that had built up inside.

The ship dropped like a stone.

"Leo!" Frank's voice echoed into the ravine.

Moments later, the _Argo II_ soared out of the darkness. Leo pulled a few levers and grinned wildly as his beloved warship righted itself and rose into the night. He whooped for absolutely no reason at all, loving the feeling of the wind in his hair, and loving that Festus was awake and enjoying the wind too.

Eventually, he decided that it would be bad if the ship suddenly ran out of energy and fell again, so he landed it carefully. He saw Frank staring at him, wide-eyed, and laughed – just a little hysterically. "Never doubt a son of Hephaestus!" he proclaimed. "I told you I would be fine!"

Frank shook his head. "You're crazy, Leo. Now why don't we go wake up Hazel and Nico and tell them of your great success?"

"Too late for that!" Nico's voice bounced off the rocks grumpily. "Next time you start a mini-avalanche, do it quietly, all right?"

"Sorry," Leo said. "At least you guys can sleep in real beds now, right?"

"Whatever." Nico and Hazel came towards the ship, Nico still grumbling about being woken up. But he didn't look too angry. Leo figured it was hard to be upset when you were facing the prospect of a full night's sleep.

"Thank the gods you came back, Leo," Hazel told him, smiling. "We couldn't have managed to fix the ship like that."

"It's not fixed yet," Leo told her. "Not by a long shot." But her compliment still gave him a warm feeling. It was nice to be useful.

Leo was just lowering the stairs when Frank shouted. "Incoming!" Leo looked up and cursed when he saw something rocketing towards his ship. He didn't need more damages to repair—

"Oh my gods!" Hazel shouted. "It's Jason!"

Now that they were coming closer, Leo could tell that it was his friend, not a boulder. Actually, it was two of his friends – Jason was clutching Piper too. But... Why wasn't he slowing down...?

"Oh, _Styx_," Leo said. "He's not stopping!"

Immediately, Frank morphed into a giant eagle and flew into the air, grabbing Jason and Piper before they could hit the ground. He deposited them on the deck gently and turned human again. Leo leaned over his friends, vaguely aware of Hazel's and Nico's running footsteps.

Leo shook Piper's shoulders, then Jason's. "Come on, guys," he muttered. "Wake up..."

Jason coughed and opened his eyes, shaking his head. "Whoa," he said. "I was in the sky, and then there were flying rocks, and then..." His vision seemed to focus. "Leo!" he said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Leo responded. "Nico told me you guys were missing."

"Long story," Jason said. "But I left the coach... I have to go get him... The only way out of there is to fly..." He struggled to his feet.

Frank reached out a hand and steadied him. "I'll go with you," he offered. "You'll have enough trouble flying without carrying a satyr too."

Jason hesitated, then nodded. "All right." He looked at Leo and smiled. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Leo. Last I heard, you were missing too."

"Yeah," Leo grinned. "Boy, have I got one crazy story to tell you guys when you get back."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Ten bucks says my story's crazier."

Leo laughed. "I'm holding you to that, Sir Prince of the Sky."

Then Jason and Frank flew off. Leo didn't worry about them too much. He had faced Gaea, Gaea's army, an entire legion of vengeful Romans – _and_ come out on top. He had saved the _Argo II_ from falling into the ravine and found Jason and Piper. The coach would be back soon too. With the Archimedes sphere working again, Leo had a feeling he could repair his warship with lightning speed and get them going again soon. His injuries weren't bothering him too badly anymore. They still had more than two weeks to hop across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece and rescue Percy and Annabeth while closing the Doors of Death at the same time. The journey itself would probably take a day at most. They had plenty of time.

Leo smiled. Their quest could only go up from here.

* * *

**So what happened to Jason, Piper, and Coach Hedge will remain a mystery... Until I decide to write a oneshot or multi-chaptered story about it... Which may or may not ever happen. Sorry about that. I guess you can use your imagination until then. ;)**

**Next chapter is the epilogue, and then the story is over! :'( I guess it's true that all good things must come to an end. Thankfully, we've not _quite_ reached that end yet. :)**

**Reviews are appreciated! **


	14. Part XIV: The Epilogue

**Thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! I can't believe we're just two away from 300! :O I'm sure we'll get there for this chapter... ;) Congratulations to Ajluv, the 275th reviewer! (Wow, you got 250th AND 275th. You must be lucky. ;) And also congratulations to my dear friend fabulouslaughter, who was the 200th reviewer a couple chapters ago, and who I completely forgot to give a shout-out to. Sorry, darling. :)**

**I got tons of requests for more chapters, but unfortunately, my lovely readers, this is it. I also got tons of requests for sequels, but there isn't going to be a _direct_ sequel to this story. Yes, I know, it's very sad. However, luckily for you guys, I have other stories that you can read instead. :D**

**_War and Memories_ is a Reyna-centric story that tells about her past while also taking place during the Battle of Greece... Kind of hard to explain, but if you check it out, it will make more sense. ;)**

**_To Storm or Fire_ (to be posted today or tomorrow) is a story about saving Percy and Annabeth, closing the Doors of Death, and what happens afterwards. (I'm trying not to spoil it for you guys by giving too much away. XD) Although it takes place sometime after AFBA would have taken place, AFBA never actually... happened. So Reyna still hates Leo's guts, the Romans are still about to attack Camp Half-Blood, and there was no trial. Leo, Percy, Annabeth, and Reyna are all main characters in it, but it's focused on Leo most of the time.**

**So if you want to read more from me, pick either or both of those stories!**

**Thank you once again for the tremendous support! I appreciated all of it, even if I wasn't able to respond to reviews for the last chapters personally. (I'm sorry, but I've been really busy the last couple of weeks, and I'm only going to get busier as school continues. :/) And sorry about the super-long author's note... :P**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own PJO. (Long author's note, short disclaimer. :P)**

* * *

**Reyna**

"Well, Ms. Praetor, here we are," Leo said. "You can take the blindfold off now."

She pulled the cloth from her eyes and stared. Leo had set up a picnic under a massive tree. He had laid out bottles of sparkling water – and yes, there were tacos.

"I know we're still in Greece," Leo started, "and you're probably still exhausted from the last battle, and we're not even close to finishing off the giants yet… But Annabeth and Percy say that there won't be another fight until tomorrow morning… And anyways, I saw you earlier, and you looked like you could use some actual food for dinner." He grinned. "So I delivered."

Reyna shook her head. "Yes, you certainly did." She allowed Leo to lead her to the blanket and sat down next to him. He offered her a taco, and she laughed as she accepted. "I can't believe you remembered," she told him.

"I can't believe _you_ did either," he answered. There was silence for a while, broken only by the crunching of taco shells as Reyna ate in pure heaven. It had been a long day, and she had been too busy driving off monsters to eat lunch. Leo was right. She really _had_ needed actual food tonight.

"How did you pull this off, Leo Valdez?" she demanded, after wiping the sauce from her second taco off her fingers.

He laughed. "That, my dear praetor, is a closely guarded secret."

"But Leo, Rome and Greece are working _together_ now!" she teased. "We can't have _secrets_!"

Leo shook his head. "This isn't a Greek secret, Rey." He winked. "It's a Valdez one."

They sat beneath the branches of the ancient tree, eating, laughing, and talking about simple, meaningless things. After fighting for her life all day, Reyna had to admit that it was a nice change of pace. That was one of Leo's talents, she supposed. Even in the midst of the end of the world, he kept laughing... And he kept making other people laugh. When a legionnaire or a camper was injured, Leo brought them ambrosia and joked about how they must have done it on purpose to get out of dishwashing duty or some other equally random chore. When people were _badly_ injured, he convinced them that they would be fine – even when they wouldn't be. And Leo turned near misses with death into great stories during the nightly campfires, leaping around and using exaggerated movements, like he had more energy than he knew what to do with. He promised people that he had seen Gaea's forces quaking in their boots – or in some cases, whatever the snake equivalent of a boot was – as soon as the Greeks and Romans appeared. Leo had people believing that they were invincible, even though the son of Hephaestus knew it wasn't true.

Reyna remembered Percy telling her about giving Hope over to Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, once. She thought that maybe Leo knew Hope well. He had clung onto it when it seemed like all of the Twelfth Legion was about to turn against him, after all. Reyna figured that Leo knew how important hope was, so he had taken hope from the embers of Hestia's hearth, resurrected it, and turned it into flames that touched every demigod and legacy and convinced them that things would work out in the end. That was one amazing talent.

"Reyna?" She snapped back to the present and noticed that Leo was staring at her. "What are you thinking about? You haven't asked for another taco in at least ten minutes. Something must be up." He looked at her closer and frowned. "Is it about tomorrow? Look, Rey, I know that we're outnumbered as well as you do. I know that Gaea's still barely doing more than toying with us. I know that the gods haven't rushed to our aid as quickly as we might have wished. But we'll be fine." He reached out and touched her hand hesitantly. When she didn't threaten to kill him for it, he closed his fingers over hers.

"It's going to be all right, Rey," he promised. "If there's one thing I've learned since figuring out that I'm a demigod, it's that desperate times are pretty common for us. But we always pull through, right? Why should this be any different?"

Reyna smiled, and then laughed a little, just because it felt good to laugh. "Wow, Leo, I've never heard that many serious words come out of your mouth."

Leo grinned. "What, you don't like serious? I'm flexible. Would you prefer idiotic clown, witty stand-up comedian, or clever mechanic? Or should I show you my impressions?" He stood up and pulled a piece of paper out of his toolbelt, quickly folding it into an origami frog. "I'm Octavian!" Leo claimed, copying the augur's voice perfectly. "I don't like you! You're too reasonable! Your ideas make too much sense! You must be stopped! I will use my stuffed frog to stop you! Fear the toy! _Fear the toy_!"

In reality, they had managed to reform Octavian after his trial. Although he was still mistrustful of Greeks and refused to fight directly alongside them, he didn't try to kill them on sight anymore. He wasn't even trying to convince the legion that they deserved to be killed on sight anymore. In Reyna's eyes, that was better than _progress_. That was as close to friendly and open as Octavian would _ever_ get, where Greece was concerned.

But that didn't stop Reyna from nearly dying with laughter.

Unfortunately, Leo took that as encouragement. He presented the frog to Reyna with a flourish, like it was a grand prize or something. Then he held his arm in front of his face. "I am Frank Zhang," he said, dropping his voice an octave. "When I feel like being less clumsy, I turn into an elephant! Then I can use my trunk to pick things up! It has much more dexterity than my fingers!" He pulled a screwdriver out of his toolbelt with his "trunk" and let it go almost immediately. "Oh no, I dropped my screwdriver anyway! Gosh darn it!"

"Leo, stop that," Reyna chuckled. "That's mean!"

"Okay, fine," Leo said. "How about this? I'm Reyna. I'm too mysterious to have a last name. I try to act serious because that's what praetors are supposed to do, but I have a secret. At night, I go into Berkeley and have my own ventriloquism act, under the name Ella the Awesome! I get standing ovations every night!"

"Leo, my voice is not that high!" Reyna protested. "And I do _not_ have a secret ventriloquism act!"

"Really? That's a shame. I would have gone to see it."

"I didn't know you had such a deep-rooted appreciation for ventriloquism, Leo."

He snorted. "I don't. I would have gone just to make sure that you kept your reputation up. Like, if you had a tough crowd one night, I would stand up and clap loudly and force the rest of the room to get off their butts too and then you would have your standing ovation."

"How sweet of you," Reyna said dryly. "But I would have to actually be a ventriloquist first."

"Aw, it's not that hard," Leo told her. "Look, I'll show you." He moved to her side and took her hand, clasping her fingers together so that they made a puppet mouth. "Okay, now move your hand like your puppet is talking," he said. "I'll fill in the words."

Feeling a little silly, Reyna opened and closed her hand.

"Hi, everyone! I'm Reyna's puppet!"

Reyna turned and looked at Leo in amazement. The voice had sounded like it had come straight from her hand! How had he _done_ that?

"Keep going," Leo said in his normal voice. "I think your puppet has more to say."

Reyna shook her head and moved her hand again.

"Sorry that I'm not wearing a costume tonight, guys! But I was afraid that Octavian would mistake me for a stuffed animal and try to murder me." Reyna laughed, but the puppet kept talking. "Also, I'm not wearing a costume because I know that however nice I look, Reyna will still be more beautiful. She's incredibly pretty, don't you think?"

Reyna tilted her head at Leo, but he wouldn't quite meet her eyes. "Don't stop, Rey," he muttered. "The puppet wants to make a speech."

"I think I've heard enough," she whispered.

"No, not really," Leo said, finally looking at her. His face was turning red in the sunset, but Reyna had a feeling that the fading light wasn't the only reason for the sudden coloration. "There were so many things the puppet wanted to say. Like how you're also an amazing leader, and how I'm – er, _it's_ – so impressed by you because you're so confident and you always speak your mind. Also, you act tough, and that's fine because you're supposed to be the unbreakable Roman and everything, but I – _it_ just wants to let you know that I'm never going to stop trying my best to crack that shell because even though you're wonderful when you're being all unyielding and Roman-y, I think you're at your most beautiful when you smile. And your laugh is prettier than Aphrodite. And maybe that's blasphemous, but you're probably about to kill me anyway, so I really couldn't care less."

Reyna froze. What was she supposed to say to that? She had kept her heart closed-off for years, following Circe's advice. The first guy who had broken through her barriers had been Jason. Leo wasn't anything like Jason. Therefore, he also wasn't all that much like her. He wasn't serious most of the time, and he wasn't the strongest in combat, and he wasn't a full-time leader, and he hadn't been on nearly as many quests…

But maybe that was okay. After all, he was serious when it really mattered. And his sense of humor made her laugh, even after she'd had another hellhound of a bad day. Reyna was starting to realize that having a good time was important for her sanity, and she hadn't had a good time in _months_ – ever since Jason disappeared – until Leo showed up and changed all that. And although he wasn't the same kind of leader as Jason, Leo had this charisma that basically forced people into liking him and eventually trusting him. As his trial proved, sometimes that was just as important as giving a good speech. And even if he wasn't the best at combat, Leo was still powerful in his own way. He could summon _fire_, after all.

The first guy who had broken through her barriers had been Jason. Leo wasn't anything like Jason – but that was _good_. Reyna _definitely_ didn't need another Jason. And anyways, Leo wasn't like Jason because he was in a league of his own. He was awkward, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful, when he needed to be. Most people backed away from others' problems, but Leo took them as personal challenges and tackled them head-on. Reyna liked that about him. Actually, if she thought about it, she liked a lot of things about him. Leo was really pretty amazing, after all.

"Uh, Reyna? If you're going to kill me, do you think you could get it over with?"

"What?" She looked at Leo. He was crouched with his hand over his head, one eye cracked open in apprehension. When she saw that, she couldn't help but laugh.

"You're... _laughing_? Does that mean you're _not_ going to kill me?"

Reyna was done hesitating. She was done following Circe's advice. After all, she had really started liking Leo way back in New Rome, when they had been visiting cafés and hoping to win votes. It was about time for her to admit it.

So she pulled Leo's hands away from his head, still laughing. "Of _course_ I'm not going to kill you," she chuckled. "Then I wouldn't be able to do _this_."

She smiled all the way through their kiss.

When they broke apart, Reyna realized that her hands had somehow become tangled in Leo's curly hair, and his were wrapped around her waist. "You know," Leo said, grinning, "you probably could have done that, even if you _had_ killed me..."

"What, would you have preferred that, Valdez?"

Leo laughed and moved his hands to her jaw. "Nah," he murmured. "I like this better." He leaned closer.

"I'm glad you didn't wait until after the war to make tacos, Leo," Reyna told him. She meant it. The gods only knew – and really, _they_ probably didn't either – how tomorrow's battle would end. But for now, she had Leo, and he had her. And that was enough.

"Guess what?" Leo grinned. "I'm glad too." And he leaned forward just a _bit_ more.

It was supposed to be impossible for Romans and Greeks to get along, but Reyna and Leo hadn't had any trouble achieving _that_ feat. It made her wonder what else they could do together – make pigs fly, maybe? But no, that had probably already happened. She seemed to remember that there was some kind of monstrous flying pig in Greek mythology. And even if there wasn't, Reyna figured that Leo had stuck a pig in the _Argo II_ before taking off, just so he could check that off his list.

At the thought, she almost wanted to laugh again.

But she didn't. The leaves on the tree were rustling gently in the breeze, and the sun was warming her face, and she had her eyes closed, and they were kissing. "Perfect" didn't crop up in her life too often, and she knew it never stayed for long. Reyna was sure a monster would come along any second to ruin the moment. Nevertheless, she wasn't about to be the one to let it go.

After all, "perfect" was pretty nice while it lasted.

* * *

**Yay, Leyna! I couldn't end a Leyna story without at least ONE Leyna kiss, right? Actually, you guys got two, so you should be happy. ;)**

**Don't ask me how I decided to make Leo admit that he liked Reyna the way he did... I guess I just figured that he has so many talents, it wasn't much of a stretch to add ventriloquism to the list. :P**

**Thank you one last time for the reviews, guys! I'll miss this story and all of you awesome people. :'(**

**And like I said, if you're looking for more Reyna, read _War and Memories!_ If you want more Leo, read _To Storm or Fire_! If you're want more Reyna AND more Leo, read both! ;)**

**Forever writing, **

**Storm**


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